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Full text of "Biggest little town on earth : DeLand Centennial, 1873-1973"

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MGGEST LITTLE TCWN ON 
EARTH: DEL AND CENTENNIAL 
1873-1973 




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THE SMALL TOWN DEPOT 

by Craig Sathoff 



The red frame building proud and stanch 

beside the busy track 
Was busthng with activity in time a few 

years back. 
Its agent was a shipping clerk, and 

stationmaster, too. 
He was the chief telegrapher and harbinger 

of news. 
The depot was the very pulse within the 

little town; 
It welcomed loads of needed coal and made 

the shipments known. 
It served the people faithfully, a guardian 

and a friend. 
Their many needs to satisfy. Their 

messages to send. 

(Used by permision) 



THE PLAINT OF THE 1973 
SMALL TOWN DEPOT 

byM.G.P.with 
apologies to Sathoff. 



The small depot still stands beside a lonely 

track. 
The people travel in a car or ride the new 

Amtrack. 
The freight still runs through town, and 

picks up corn and beans. 
And brings in lumber, sand or oil, because 

no other means 
Are there to get the big things in. The small 

are sent by mail, 
Or routed to another town, It's enough to 

make one wail! 
There is no agent now in town to send a 

message out. 
The telephone is faster, much. Of that there 

is no doubt. 
The railroad started out our town a hundred 

years ago. 
It serves us now much less, by far. Progress 

is now its foe. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Miss Emma Piatt — Piatt County History 

DeWitt-Piatt County Biographical History 

Chas. Mcintosh — Piatt County History 

Francis Shonkwiler — Piatt County History 

Morgan, Jessie — The Good Life in Piatt County 

Piatt County newspapers — Herald, Independent and Republican — 1872-1902 

DeLand Tribune — 1902 to Feb. 1973 



I wish to express my appreciation for all of these and for many DeLand people 
I have interviewed including, Mrs. Donna Reid, Mrs. L. Borton, Mrs. Chas. 
Marvel, Clifford Porter, Mr. and Mrs. Alva Reid, P.E. Fonner, Mrs. John 
Adams, Mrs. C.C. Trigg, W.B. Trenchard, Mrs. Marie Gantz, Mrs. Ora Holforty, 
Clyde Porter, and others. 

Thanks to Mrs. Donn Hermann who has acted as photographer and to Mrs. 
Marjorie Huisinga for being a chauffeur. 

The Evening Woman's Club has also been of help on various occasions. 



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1873 



1973 



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By Myrta Grace Paugh 



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BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN 

In May of 1973, DeLand, Illinois will be 
one hundred years old. It is a small town in 
East Central Illinois, located on the 
Champaign-Havana Branch of the Illinois 
Central railroad and on Route 10, a high- 
way crossing the state from east to west. 
Situated near the central part of Goose 
Creek Township in Piatt County, it lies in 
Section 9 of Township 19 north. Range 5 
east of the 3rd Principal meridian just a 
few miles north of the 40 parallel. 

DeLand is the only village in the 
township which consists of about 54 sec- 
tions. DeLand was founded in 1873 by 
Thomas E. Bondurant. who had it laid out 
as an answer to the needs of the local 
farmers for a place from which to ship 
their grain without hauling it for a very 
long distance. 

Many changes have occurred during 
that one hundred years. The town has 
sometimes advanced in its growth, 
sometimes receded. Many events have 
influenced its growth. The purpose of this 
book is to show the great changes it has 
experienced. It is difficult to visualize the 
days of the long ago. Were the early set- 
tlers able to see us today, they would rub 
their eyes in amazement. Some of our 
common articles would be in- 
comprehensible to them. We have an 
advantage over them for our books, 
movies and television show us what it was 
like in Pioneer days, but even these media 
cannot predict with precision the things 
that our descendants will see. 

We have used many sources in ferreting 
out the facts of DeLand's history. We hope 
that the things we tell are true. If we have 
slipped in some untruths, we can only 
repeat a couplet that the DeLand Tribune 
used to use: 

"We know not what the truth may be. 
We tell it as 'twas told to us." 

Originally, I intended to dedicate this 
book to the Pioneers of DeLand, some of 
whom 1 knew when I was a child. But my 
life time interest has been children — first 
those whom I taught in the rural schools of 
Goose Creek Township and elsewhere, and 
second, the many children who came to 
the Library for books and school material 
while I was Librarian. To them I dedicate 
this history of their own community with 
the hope that it will interest them and gain 
their respect for all history, because it is 

their Heritage. 

Myrta Grace Faugh 



PROLOGUE 



V. "Where we walk to school each day, 
\ Indian children used to play. 
■5 All about our native land, 
Y Where the streets and houses stand. 
•^ Not a church and not a steeple, 
^ Only woods and Indian people." 



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That was how it was when the first white 
settlers first arrived in Piatt county. Few 



white people had been in this area before 
Illinois became a state in 1818. The early 
settlers in Illinois made their homes along 
streams, shunning the prairies as they 
believed them unfit for farming. And the 
area now known as Piatt county was 
definitely prairie. 

When they did arrive, they found In- 
dians. Not fierce dangerous redskins, but 
friendly members of the Delaware, Pot- 
tawattamie and Kickapoo tribes. There 
are few stories told about them — possibly 
because they were peaceful I have never 
heard one authentic story of the Indians in 
Goose Creek Township. That there were 
Indians here is evident. Many, many 
arrowheads and other Indian artifacts 
have been found, and there are indications 
that there were buffalo wallows on the 
farms of Chris Roos and Martha Hursh 
Yowell where Persons live. John Gantz 
still hunts arrowheads along the creek and 
just a short time ago they found a two- 
toned one on the Hursh farm. 

Goose Creek is just across the township 
line from Buck's pond which was the home 
of the Indian named Buck and his wife 
whom he married to save her from death 
after she had been condemned for killing 
twin babies in a jealous rage. And William 
Piatt, who later lived in Goose Creek was 
the man who read the Bible to a group of 
Indians and had one take it from him to 
show that he, too, could read it. 

Before these Indians, there were the 
Mound Builders and other prehistoric 
people all of whom left traces of their 
existence in this region - especially along 
the Sangamon and its tributaries. 

EARLY CLAIMS 

After the discovery of America, the 
Illinois country was claimed by several 
governments. The Spaniards discovered 
the Mississippi river in 1641 and claimed 
all land bordering it. Actually, they were 
only in Illinois once, and that not until 1781. 
In that year, a band of Spanish soldiers 
stationed at a fort in the yicinity of St. 
Louis, decided to surprise the English who 
were occupying a small outpost in 
southern Michigan. A band of Spanish 
soldiers and Indians marched across 
Illinois, surprised and captured the 
garrison, after which they made another 
cold march back to their fort. They ac- 
complished nothing by the trip but they are 
of interest to us because they may have 
marched across Goose Creek Township by 
a trail that took them near to Danville 
where they are known to have turned 
north. 

The French claims to the Mississippi 
valley are more valid than those of the 
Spanish since they did explore much of the 
region and made the first white set- 
tlements. But not in central Illinois. The 
French were followed by the British who 
arrived during the years following the 
French and Indian War and wrested the 

— 5 — 



French outposts from them. The British, in 
turn, were ousted by the Americans under 
George Rogers Clark and his pioneer 
stalwarts who claimed the area for 
Virginia. 

When the Revolutionary war came to an 
end and the American government was set 
up, Virginia ceded her claim to the 
Federal Government who set up the Or- 
dinance of 1787 to administer the North- 
west Territory the region north of the 
Ohioandeastof the Mississippi. From this 
territory finally emerged the States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and 
Wisconsin and a small portion of Min- 
nesota. As these areas gained a certain 
population that allowed them to become a 
state, they were cut off from the 
remainder of the area. Illinois attained the 
desired population in 1818 and became a 
state. Soon afterward, the Haworths and 
the Hanelines, the Martins and the Piatts 
arrived in what was to be Piatt county ( in 
1822 and 1824 ) . None of these families lived 
in Goose Creek Township except one son of 
the Piatt's, William, who moved across the 
creek following his marriage in 1838. 

PIATT COUNTY 

When we speak of Piatt County and 
Goose Creek Township and DeLand, we 
must remember that Piatt County was not 
formed until 1841, Goose Creek Township 
until 1861, and DeLand until 1873. Piatt 
county was formed from portions of Macon 
and DeWitt counties. To begin with, 
Illinois was first in the Ohio territory, then 
in Indiana, then in Illinois territory before 
it became a state. In Indiana territory it 
was part of Knox and St. Clair Counties. In 
Illinois territory, it started out as one big 
county also called St. Clair. As the 
population grew, there was a need to be 
closer to county seats, and gradually 
counties were divided ai.d sub-divided so 
that what is now Piatt county had been in 
the territorial counties of St. Clair, 
Madison (struck off in 1790), Edwards 
(1812), Crawford (1814) and Clark (1816). 
Then Illinois had enough people to become 
a state, and did so in 1818. In 1819, Piatt 
became a part of Fayette county, in 1821- 
Shelby, and in 1829-Macon. The part Goose 
Creek township was in became a part of 
Dewitt that was struck off from Macon and 
McLean in 1839. The settlement of Piatt 
County began in 1822. Ezra Marquiss, who 
came here in 1833 boasted that he had lived 
in three counties without moving — 
Macon, Dewitt and Piatt! 

Before 1861, each county was considered 
a governmental unit, although the nor- 
thern counties, where most of the people 
came from the New England States, would 
have preferred the town form of govern- 
ment they were accustomed to. In 1849 or 
.50, the State Legislature passed a bill that 
allowed the township form, and Piatt 
county adopted it in 1861. 

Piatt county had been formed in 1841, 
because of the distance folks had to travel 
to the county seat at Decatur. Those were 



horse and buggy days and Decatur was a 
good distance from Monticello. A trip 
there was a real chore. Thus it was that the 
people of Piatt county began considering a 
county of its own. After mich discussion, 
three committees were formed to canvass 
adjoining areas of Macon, Dewitt and 
Champaign counties. 

The three men who carried the petitions 
in the eastern part of Dewitt county were 
Abraham Marquiss, his son Ezra, and 
William Barnes. They were successful in 
getting enough signers as were the three 
who canvassed the eastern part of Macon 
county. The people canvassed m Cham- 
paign county were not interested in a 
change. George Patterson, a school 
teacher, carried the petition to Springfield 
and presented it to the legislature. On 
January 7, 1841, Piatt county was declared 
a coun^. The boundaries set at that date 
have remained the same ever since. 

The committee named the county Piatt 
for James A. Piatt, one of the earliest 
permanent settlers. He was a com- 
missioner when the county seat was at 
Decatur, and had the reputation of always 
being on hand for meetings, no matter 
what the weather nor how difficult the trip. 
Piatt county was first governed by a 
board of commissioners chosen from three 
established voting precincts Monticello, 
Okaw, and Sangamon. The area, later 
known as Goose Creek Township, was the 
western part of Sangamon precinct. 
Monticello, being the only town, was 
declared the county seat. At the first 
election, three commissioners, a Probate 
Justice of the Peace, a Sheriff, a surveyor, 
a recorder, a clerk, and a coroner were 
elected. This setup continued until the 
township form of government superceded 
it in 1861. Then the commissioners were 
replaced by a Board of Supervisors one 
elected from each township. 

Sangamon precinct consisted of what is 
now Blue Ridge, Sangamon, and Goose 
Creek Townships. 

PRE-TOWNSHIP DAYS 

The first settlement in what is now 
Goose Creek Township was in 1824, while 
the area was in Shelby County. A Mr. York 
built a cabin on the north side of Goose 
Creek where it empties into the Sangamon 
River. Mr. York came here from Kentucky 
but was originally from North Carolina. 
He did not stay very long. When his wife 
died, he returned to Kentucky. 

David Cordell built the second cabin in 
1830. By that time, Piatt County had 
passed from Shelby County into Macon 
County. Mr. Cordell also stayed but a short 
time, soon moving to a settlement on 
Friends Creek, another branch of the 
Sangamon, beginning in the southwest 
part of Goose Creek township and ending 
near Decatur. Later, Mr. Cordell moved 
on to Missouri. 

In the same year, a Mr. Fry erected a 
third cabin at the mouth of Goose Creek. 
These three cabins are believed to have 



been the only ones north of Goose Creek up 
to the time of the "Deep Snow" by which 
the early pioneers dated early events. If 
there were other settlers north of the 
creek, there is no mention of them in early 
historys. 

"The Deep Snow" occurred in 1830 
causing much hardship among the set- 
tlers. It snowed continuously through most 
of the winter, becoming very deep and 
freezing over so that men could walk on 
top of it. Many animals died from the 
severe cold, and from getting mired in the 
snow where they froze and perished from 
lack of food. The settlers, too, were 
hungry, for they depended upon game for 
food. It was a winter to be remembered. 
People who lived here then are referred to 
as "The Snowbirds." 

All of the early settlers settled close to 
streams. They needed timber for their 
houses and barns and for fuel. The easiest 
way to settle was to cut down the trees to 
make a clearing, build their cabin and use 
the surrounding clearing for growing 
crops. They erroneously believed that 
since the prairies did not grow trees, that 
it was not fertile. For many years they 
made no effort to cultivate it. The prairie 
grew tall grass higher than a man's 
head, and there were frequent prairie 
grass lires. 

The settlements from 1830 on had more 
permanency. In 1831, Mr. Olney, a captain 
of the Revolutionary War built the fourth 
cabin north of Goose Creek. It and a 
second cabin built by him on land that was 
later William Piatt land, was occupied by 
Mr. Olney's sons. Both Mr. and Mrs. Olney 
died there but were buried at Hickory 
Point, but the remains were later disin- 
terred by a grandson and placed in Piatt 
cemetery. The younger Olneys remained 
in the township until 1883. To my 
knowledge Captain Olney was the only 
veteran of the Revolution to live in our 
township. 



THE MARQUISSES 

The Olney cabin was but 12 by 14 feet, so 
you can imagine the crowded conditions 
that prevailed when Mr. Abraham 
Marquiss of Ohio, arrived in 1833, found 
one of the Olneys cabins vacant and 
decided to move in. There were twenty-one 
persons in his company and it was 
necessary for the men to continue to sleep 
in the wagons. Mr. Marquiss had with him, 
his wife, their six children, a younger 
sister, his brother-in-law, William Barnes 
and four children, and five Phillips 
children whom he took under his wing 
when he stopped in Terra Haute to see his 
sister and found that both she and her 
husband had died, leaving the children in 
the care of neighbors. It was a bitterly cold 
winter with food scarce, wolves num- 
erous and dangerous. They were not long 
in putting up another cabin and taking 

— 6 — 



steps to make themselves secure. 

When Mr. Marquiss decided to move 
here, he came with the intention of 
staying. He had previously visited the area 
and liked what he saw. His move to Piatt 
County was destined to be one of the early 
important events of Goose Creek. These 
people were civic minded and became 
very influential in the growth of both 
township and village. 

The Marquiss family did not move in a 
covered wagon as most pioneer families 
did. The mother, father and girls traveled 
in a two horse carriage and stopped at 
night at dwellings along the way. The boys 
camped out. They got along nicely 
although there were only trails to follow 
and sometimes not even that. Ezra, the 
oldest son, age 21, drove a four horse 
team; John, an oxen team; and the other 
boys drove the cattle, horses, and sheep. 

The cabin that Marquiss had picked out 
on his previous trip was not available when 
he arrived the second time. It was filled 
with flax, hence they went on to the 
Olney's. The Piatt family also gave them 
what help they could, as was the custom in 
those days. They immediately started 
making furniture, storing hay for feeding 
the stock through the winter, and fencing 
in a field to be ready for the spring plan- 
ting. Throughout the winter, they were 
faced with a shortage of food. If they 
needed corn ground for cornmeal, they 
had to go clear to Decatur to get it ground. 
It was not an easy life, but these pioneers 
were hardy folk and survived the hard- 
ships. 




K/ra IMarquiss — one of the earliest set- 
tlers ill the township. 

Ezra, the oldest son, was just twenty-one 
when they made the move to Illinois, and 
soon went back to Ohio to marry Maria 
Norris and bring her here. They had eight 
children, five of whom grew up, married, 
and settled nearby. Some of Ezra's 
descendants are still to be found in Goose 



Creek Township. 

Ezra's dream was to own land and he 
immediately began saving money to buy 
government land. He needed fifty dollars 
to begin with, but it took some time to 
accumulate it. Once, half of his savings 
was stolen while the family was away at 
church. It was necessary to haul grain 
clear to Chicago to market it. The amount 
sold and the fourte.en days it took to make 
the trip made the profits low, but he was 
soon able to buy his first forty acres and 
add another eighty to it. By continuing in 
this manner, he eventually owned 2100 
acres of land which he improved. But it 
took a long time. 

The family lived much of the time on 
hominy, parched corn, and game from the 
woods. The hominy was made by pouring 
hot water on corn and pounding it until the 
hulls came off. They then poured it back 
and forth from dish to dish to get rid of the 
lighter hulls. There were no stores with 
packaged breakfast food or wrapped 
loa ved of bread to buy. They scrambled for 
every bite they took. But they prospered in 
spite of hardships and considered their life 
good. 

Ezra's autobiography, written for the 
county paper in 1888, gives a good picture 
of the life of a pioneer in Piatt county. One 
aS his interesting stories is of the Sudden 
Freeze which came on the heels of a warm 
spell. There was snow on the ground, but a 
drizzling rain began to fall, and in an 
hour's time, the temperature had plum- 
metted so that creeks and sloughs were 
frozen hard. It so happened that the 
Marquiss food supply was very low and it 
was necessary to take corn to the mill to 
grind into corn meal. First they had to take 
the horses to the blacksmith shop (some 
six miles away) to have them shod. They 
spent the day trying to get there. The 
horses could not keep their footing and 
when thoy crossed the stream they had to 
roll them across. Finally, they left them on 
the prairie and returned home for the 
night. In the morning they found the horses 
and continued their journey. He also 
describes a wolf hunt when he kept the 
wolves from attacking him by standing 
quietly and not showing fear. When he did 
not run, the wolves slunk away. 

This family took a prominent part in the 
community. Both Abraham and Ezra 
helped to get Piatt county formed. Both 
Ezra and his son Seymour held several 
public offices in the township and in the 
village. Ezra was supervisor; Seymour 
was the first president of DeLand, and he 
served in the Illinois State Legislature. 
Mr. Abraham Marquiss was prominent in 
both county and township affairs for over 
fifty years. According to Miss Piatt's 
history he was: "A successful farmer, a 
practicing physician, a soldier of the War 
of 1812, and after moving to Piatt county, 
was a Justice of the Peace and an in 
fluential man in the county." To my 
knowledge, he was the only veteran of the 



War of 1812 to live in Goose Creek Town- 
ship. 

Ezra Marquiss was the original "Mr. 
Republican" of Piatt County. Some say he 
cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln- 
others that he was originally a Whig and 
cast his first vote for John Fremont. 
Whatever his politics, he was one of the 
first members of the Republican party in 
Piatt County. He was one of the two men 
who escorted Lincoln to the Court House in 
Monticello to make a speech. This was a 
brave thing to do, for everyone else in 
Monticello was a Democrat! Lincoln 
began his speech with only Marquiss and 
Mr. Guy as audience but finished it before 
a good sized audience as Monticelloans 
slipped in one or two at a time! Ezra was a 
member of the Republican Goose Creek 
committee and chairman of the Central 
County committee, assessor, member of 
the Board of school trustees, and the 
second supervisor elected after the 
township was formed. 

Ezra joined the first Civil War company 
to be raised in Piatt county but was 
rejected. His son, Ezra Junior, however, 
served in the South for two years. 



clerk, highway commissioner, scnooi 
director, and a member of the fortieth 
general assembly as the representative of 
the Thirteenth Senatorial District. 




Seymour Marquiss — son of Ezra: 
Member of State Legislature; 1st. 
president of town board at DeLand. 

Ezra's son Seymour was a prominent 
citizen of DeLand. Seymour lived on a 
farm near DeLand, but was living in the 
village when he became a resident of the 
Board. He and his wife had no children, but 
reared six girls, Sophia Norris (Mrs. 
Robert Cathcart), Lillie Ives (Mrs. Don 
Chandler of Nebraska). Minnie Hubbard 
(who died in California). DelU Parsons 
(Mrs. F.W.Keel of Monticello) ; and Jessie 
Parsons and Florence Tripp. The 
Marquisses lived in Monticello after their 
retirement. Besides being village 
president, he was assessor, township 

— 7 — 




Mrs. Seymour Marquiss. 



THE MCMILLENS 

Another of the Marquisses-Pelina, 
married Frank McMillen, another early 
settler in Goose Creek Township. His 
father, Thomas McMillen, moved to Piatt 
county in 1856, and moved into some 
cabins owned by Ezra Marquiss. He later 
moved to Champaign county. He was the 
father of ten children five of whom lived in 




Mrs. Frank McMillen (Pelina Marquiss, 
daughter of Ezra Sr.. was with her father 
when he escorted |.incoln to Court House.) 



Piatt county after their marriages. These 
were: Frank, Caroline, who married 
Seymour Marquiss; a daughter who 
married a son of Andrew Barnes; George; 
and Martha, who married Dr. Davis, a 
doctor at DeLand. 

Frank and Pelina reared seven 
children: Clarabel, who married Curtis 
Borton, a Goose Creek Township resident; 
Frank (Hank); Thomas; Fred; the others 
dying at an early age. Mr. Frank McMillen 
was veteran of the Civil War. 

Mr. McMillen and his family were also 
civic minded people. All three of the boys 
hved on farms southeast of DeLand. The 
mother lived with Thomas in her later 
years. Hank and Fred raised fine race 
horses. Fred had a race track in one of his 
fields where he trained his horses. Hank 
was road commissioner for several years. 



Xo. 



Statk Ban 




E.T. McMillen — banker at DeLand. 




Mrs. K. I. IVltMilU'n 

Thomas (E.T.) was cashier of the State 
Bank for a long time. When it closed its 



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lv«>*^ UK L.^lN 13 '» 058 



-- — "\TSO T)(JLL.\Ht 




McMillan was so delighted to have a boy after two girls that he had the baby's 
picture put on checks. Probably only checks ever to have baby picture on them. 



generation of Huisinga's. Two of these 
children have children. 

We know of two other families in Goose 
Creek Township that are descendants of 
the Marquisses. One is Lawrence 
Marquiss who lives in the brick house on 
the Monticello road where the Minor 
house once stood. He has four daughters- 
all married— two of whom live in Mon- 
ticello. Lawrence is the son of Paul. Paul's 
father was Oliver Marquiss, his grand- 
father was Henry. Henry's father was 
Charles— brother of Ezra and son of 
Abraham. 

Dale Robinson and Wilma Grant 
Robinson and her two daughters. Their 
great-grandfather, William Fitzwater, 
married Mary Marquiss, daughter of Ezra 
Marquiss, Senior. 




Inside State Bank 



doors in the 1920's, he became an in- 
surance agent. Tom McMillen was in- 
terested in DeLand and was behind and 
worked for every good thing that was ever 
suggested for DeLand. He was par- 
ticularly interested in the building of the 
Library, was one of the first trustees and 
also the force behind two of the town's 
early bands, leading the first one and 
early bands, leading the first one and 
managing the second. He was also much 
mterested in the schools. His daughter 
Martha and sons Frank and Wayne moved 
away in early adulthood. Edna married 
Earl Hiett, the assistant cashier at the 
bank. Both were teachers before that. 
Earl was killed in an automobile accident. 
She married Harry Merry who was the 
director of the later band. She is now Mrs. 
James Cooper of Monticello. She has a son. 
Max, and a daughter, Martha. Wayne 
distinguished himself in his work, being 
for many years assistant to the president 
of the American Airlines in New York and 
later joined the Morgan Guaranty bank as 
Trust officer. 

Fred had two daughters. Hazel who lives 
in Monticello, and Geneva who married 
Harm Huisinga and was the mother of Jim 
and Joe both Goose Creek township far- 
mers. Joe's children are the great-great- 
great grandchildren of the first McMillen 
in the township, the great-great-great- 
great grandchildren of Abraham 
Marquiss. They are also the fourth 




OTHKK EARLY SETTLERS 

The life of the Marquisses was typical of 
other pioneers in Piatt county. Among 
those who settled in the township before 
the County was formed in 1841 were: Mr. 
and Mrs. Wm. Bailey and several children 
who arrived in 1835, and Abraham Collins 
who settled on what was later known as the 
James Miner place. Collins built the 
brick house which stood for many years 
where the Lawrence Marquiss home is 
now. 

In 18;i9, the Reverend Thomas Welch 
came to Illinois from Indiana. He bought 
land in the southern part of Goose Creek 
Township and some of his descendants still 
own it and live on it. He was a Christian 
preacher from 18:!9 to 1858, preaching in 
Piatt and surrounding counties. He was 
married twice and had a large family 
including John H., Mason, Paul and 
Cephas who remained in Goose Creek 



Township. 

His older son. John H. followed his father 
to Piatt count\' in 1840. stayed for forty 
years and then moved on to Kansas. John's 
son, Thomas E. Welch remained here, 
married Susanna Robinson Croninger and 
reared three sons Charles C, Eddie E., 
and William W. 

Charles lived across the road in Willow 
Branch Township and was the father of 
Ecus Vaughn, the champion cornhusker. 
He also had a son Thomas who lived on 
Rev. Welch's first eighty acres. His son 
Thomas. Jr. lives there today. The 
younger Thomas' son Jack was a casualty 
of Viet Nam. 

E.E. Welch and W.W. Welch both lived 
in that neighborhood. WW. Welch's wife 
was Emma Morgan who lived on the farm 
until a few years ago. She retired to 
Monticello where at the age of 92 she is 
very active. The Welch farms still in the 
family are probably Centennial farms. 

We have no record of people who came in 
the 40's though there must have been 
some. But the 1850's brought quite a 
number. There was the Jesse Fitzwater 
family in 1851, Mark Harshbarger and 
George Duvall in 1852; William Marvel in 
1852; Martha Bondurant and five children 
including Thomas B., who was later to 
found DeLand in 1854; Mr. Johnson and 
Benjamin Kesner in 1855; John Kirby, the 
McMillens, the Miners, Wm. S. Martin, 
and Rev. Smith Finian in 1856; and 
rounding out the fifties were the Albert 
Bortons who still have descendants here, 
the Langdon's who helped build DeLand, 
Harry McFadden, in 57, James A. Brown 
in 1858, and John Vail who helped DeLand 
get started and Albert England in 1859. 
John Kesner and John Kingston arrived in 
1855 and the Wellington Edwards 
sometime in the fifties. 

Jesse Fitzwater settled in the eastern 
part of the township and land there is still 
owned by his descendants. Mrs. Ethel 
Dalton owns the land her father Roy 
Fitzwater owned and lived there until her 
marriage. She is a former teacher of 
DeLand, living now in Monticello. Dale 
and f,orene Robinson live upon Fitzwater 
land. Dale and his sister, Wilma Grant are 
descendants. There may be others. Jesse 
Fitzwater improved a 350 acre farm, 
draining it as all early settlers had to do 
with their farm land. One day's ditching 
cost him $112. He put out hedge and 
planted two hundred trees. The Robinson 
family were the children of Sylvia Fitz- 
water, daughter of Dale who was the son of 
William and Mary Marquiss Fitzwater. 
Many of the Fitzwater descendants were 
residents of this township. 

The William Marvel settled in DeWitt 
county across the line from Piatt but four 
of his children settled in Goose Creek 
township and there are still Marvels here. 
There was Henry Storey Marvel who was a 
Civil War Veteran and is said to have 
started the first Sunday School in Goose 
Creek Township. Then there was Mar- 



maduke who settled about a mile west of 
DeLand — building a house of one room 
and enlarging it to six where the Bert 
McBride family use to live just north of 
Miss Swishers. Marmaduke was very 
active in the community. He was school 
director of District five which included the 
later districts of DeLand and Western. 
When he left in 1883, the price of land had 
risen from six dollars to 60. Frank was a 
veteran of the Civil War and was a 
drummer boy while in service. Inez Ed- 
wards has his drum. He was a great 
horseman, he is buried in DeLand. 

Louis was also an old soldier, Louis' son 
Charles married Edith Swisher and was 
the father of Zelda Marvel, the local 
librarian. The son George married Flora 
Crisman. They were the parents of Golda 
Jones and Inez Edward. Inez lives in 
DeLand and has a number of children but 
only one who lives here — George Ed- 
wards who has three little girls. 

Louis' wife was Eliza Margaret Mc- 
Bride, daughter of George McBride. 

Albert Borton came from Ohio to Goose 
Creek Township in 1857. He settled near 
DeLand. later buying a farm about a mile 
north of where the village of DeLand was 
built. He and his wife, Nancy Sarver 
Borton had ten children. Curtis married 
Clara McMillen, Mary was the wife of Wm. 
Barnett. Joshua who came to the township 
in 1864. Charles, Edwin. Albert, Lusina, 
William and Byron. 

Most of these lived around DeLand for 
awhile. Mr. Borton was active in the 
community and was Justice of the Peace 
for five years. 




.Mr. and .Mrs. J.L. Borton — early settlers 
with living descendants here today. 

Joshua L. (Lincoln) Borton succeeded 
his father on the home farm and lived 
there until his son Lorin took over when he 
and his wife. Belle Wilson, retired to 
DeLand. Here they were very active in the 
community. Mrs. Borton remembered 
much about the early days of the 
Methodist church. She also took an active 

— 9 — 



part in the activities of the woman's club. 
She was particularly active in the project 
of getting a chapel for the cemetery. 

The Bortons had three children — 
Faurest of Monticello, Lorin of DeLand 
and Fern Kingsboro (deceased). Lorin's 
son Karl now farms the home place and 
Lorin and Grace (Hutchinson) live in 
DeLand. Karl married Loveta Jasper, 
daughter of a former Methodist pastor. 
They have three daughters — Karla, 
Shelley and Robin and a son Tom. So the 
fourth and fifth generations are now living 
on the home farm. Fern's son, Leiand 
Kingsboro lives about a mile south of town 
on the Wilson farm which his grandmother 
inherited. 




Mrs. McFadden, early settler. 



Henry McFadden was a saddler and 
house painter in Monticello until he moved 
to a farm east of DeLand in 1857. He far- 
med it until his death in 1903 at which time 
the son Harry took over the farm and lived 
there until his death. Mrs. McFadden and 
her daughter. Miss Emma built a cottage 
in DeLand where they lived until their 
deaths. Living with them in later years 
were two daughters who had married and 
returned after the death of their husbands. 
All of them lived to be aged — the mother 
being past ninety when she died. 

James A. Brown settled on the farm 
where John Leischner now lives in 1858 
and lived there until early in the 80's. Some 
of their children were Emma who married 
Joseph Rankin who had a hotel in DeLand 
in the early days; and Ada who became 
Mrs. Ellis Reed. 

Alva Reed's mother. Mollie Hayes who 
spent much of her later life in Deland was 
another daughter, as was Lucy Brown 
Gordan Emma Porter's (Mrs. Clifford) 
mother. I believe she was also the mother 
of Maggie Gordan Adams. 

Wm. S. Martin bought 80 acres in the 
southwest corner of the township in 1856. 



After adding to the farm, he retired in 1894 
and his son Oliver ran the place. Edgar 0. 
Martin, another son also farmed Martin 
land in this and Willow Branch Township. A 
farm east of the Martin home place was 
inherited by Elbert Martin, son of Edgar. 
It is occupied today by Elbert's daughter 
Imogene and her husband, Lonnie Smith. 
The Smith's have several children all of 
whom are married. 

I860's and 70's 

The 1860's saw many more settlers 
arrive. Many of these in the latter part of 
the decade were veterans of the Civil War. 
Coming home from the War, many sought 
homes in new localities, especially where 
there was good land to be had at a 
reasonable price. Some of these were the 
Morgan's, Daniel Buzzell, John 
Carrington, John Carrier, Hiram Dillin, 
George McBride, R.B. Moody who was 
later to be of importance to Deland, Henry 
Gantz, future Deland storekeeper, Henry 
Gilmore, J.B. Gordan, Joseph Rankin — 
future hotel proprietor, James Stephen- 
son, Jacob Mansfield, John Dresback, 
John Campbell, and the Meents family 
who settled in the German neighborhood of 
Kentuck and started the Kentuck church, 
Mrs. Meents was a Goken. 

Emma Morgan Welch, today living in 
Monticello after a long residence in Goose 
Creek township, was the daughter of John 
and Susan Dawson Morgan, who bought 
land a couple of miles east of DeLand in 
1868, hauling the lumber with which to 
build a house from Bement, which was 
then the only railroad station in the county. 
He built his house on the highest point of 
the farm which resulted in it today being 
set far back from the road. The land 
around him was all swamp land and had to 
be drained. The original house is part of 
the present structure and is owned by Mrs. 
Welch so it must be a Centennial farm. The 
John Morgan's reared seven children. 
Local people remember Ezra who sold 
coal for many years at Combes Switch; 
Frank, who for awhile conducted a small 
goose farm east of town; and Ed, a school 
teacher who was the father of Birch 
Morgan who is now a Judge in the 6th 
Division Circuit Court. Birch is the only 
Morgan grandchild. He lives in Monticello 
with his wife who was Jessie Borer and the 
author of "The GOOD DAYS IN PIATT 
COUNTY." Mrs. Welch was the only girl in 
the family, went to Fairview school, had 
an excellent voice, and was active in the 
Methodist Church at DeLand, one of the 
early Literary Societies, and the W.C.T.U. 
At one of the W.C.T.U. Silver medal 
contests she won first place. Mrs. Welch 
who has had for years a Sunday School 
class in Monticello Methodist Church was 
recently honored with a surprise open 
house. She still drives her car, looks after 
her farms, attends the Friendship Club 
mt.ungs in DeLand and by being active, 
refuses to grow old. 

John Carrier came to Goose Creek 



township in 1869. He married Sarah Hoyt 
and had three sons — E.D.; W.H.; and 
C.E. Carrier. Mr. Carrier was a Civil War 
Veteran, Mrs. Carrier lived to be in her 
nineties and spent the latter part of her life 
in darkness as did her son William. Both 
were poets of talent. Grandma Carrier 
wrote poetry for and to all her friends and 
on special occasions at the Methodist 
Church she stood up and recited the poem 
written for the occasions. Her children had 
her poetry made into a commemorative 
book. The Carriers lived for many years in 
the house now occupied by Lyle Barr. 




Mrs. John Carrier — early settler and 
blind poet. 

Hiram Dillon, bought land in Goose 
Creek township about 1867 which was later 
occupied by his son Robert. Robert 
married Alzina Marsh and when they 
retired, they moved into DeLand to the 
house now owned by E.E. Leischner. Mrs. 
Dillin's half-sister and her husband Henry 
Eyler ran the farm for many years now 
occupied by Smiths just south and east of 
DeLand. Mrs. Eyler was Rozzella Tilson. 

Henry Gilmore s farm was north west of 
DeLand. He was the father of Charlie 
Gilmore who lived on the farm for many 
years. Mr. Gilmore and his wife, Leota 
Murphy, live in Leroy. 

There have been a number of McBride 
families who have lived in the DeLand 
area-both township and village since 1860 
when George McBride moved to a farm 
west of DeLand from Fulton County. He 
was married twice, to Sophia Wisnan and 
later to Eliza Long. By them, he had ten 
children. These children included: Eliza, 
wife of Louis Marvel whose children were 
Golda (Mrs, Jim Jones-deceased) and Inez 
(Mrs, Wellington Edwards) of DeLand, 
whose son George lives in DeLand, David, 
who married Nellie Fullenrider of Goose 
Creek, Children were Jesse who formerly 
lived here and at one time ran the Fonner 



10 



store; OUie (Mrs. Harve Clemon) whose 
children Cecil and Lorin still live here; 
Bert; Hattie Ann (Mrs. Howard Bartison) 
whose children still live in the county ; and 
Glenn who now lives in Clinton but has a 
son Wendell living in the township. Bert, 
who now lives in Ohio and had a large 
family of boys but has lost several was the 
father of Raymond who was drowned in 
Goose Creek during high water. Jacob 
McBride — son of George was Mrs. Minnie 
Bickel's father, his descendants here in- 
clude Lola Trigg and Daisy Adams. Mary 
Ann married George Race and lived here 
for awhile. Phillip married Mary Johnson 
and had three children — one of whom died 
in infancy. Frank was the father of Essel, 
Marie and Dorothy and the grandfather of 
Dorothy Hermann, daughter of Essel. The 
Hermann's have a son and two daughters 
living at home though two are at Wesleyan 
University. They lost one son in an ac- 
cident. Phillip's other child was Katherine 
(Mrs. Mart Miller) who lived in Goose 
Creek and for many years in DeLand 
where the Swanstrom's live. Corda (Mrs. 
Cecil Bosher-deceased ) Dale and Thelma 
who lives in Clinton were their children. 
William McBride, who married a half- 
sister of Harriet Bowsher reared Harriet 
and Edna Griffin Hayes Lubbers after 
their parents died. George McBride Jr. 
was the father of Myrtle Fitzwater (Mrs. 
Roy) the mother of Ethel Dalton, a long- 
time teacher here. Mr. George McBride 
probably ranks with the Marquisses in 
having descendants live in Goose Creek 
township! 

William Dewees, father of Wiley and 
Charles Dewees came in 1865. He was a 
Civil War veteran, Wiley was an early 
teacher here and Chas. married one of the 
Porter girls and lived here for quite a 
while. Another child was Fanny who 
married Charles Marquiss. 

Elijah Campbell came to this township 
in 1870, He married Sarah Ater and had a 
number of children most of whom have 
lived around here, Atha Cox— mother of 
Leith Fonger and Lois, Hattie Wisegar- 
ver— who lived in Harriet Bowsher's house 
until the health of her daughter Aubra took 
them to the West: Cora Huddleston: Nona 
Wisegarver, mother of Carter Wisegarver, 
Pearl Haggard whose children attended 
school here, Ray, Turner, Caddie Moody, 
Waive and Dee, When Mr, Campbell 
retired he came to town and built the house 
now occupied by Hermann Meyers, Naomi 
Wisegarver's children are grandchildren 
of Smith and Nona Wisegarver, 

The Wisegarver's were also early set- 
tlers though they settled in DeWitt county. 
They owned land in Goose Creek, however, 
the lamily were connected with the 
Christian church here and the children 
attended school in DeLand Ora Hoiforty 
and Marie Hursh are grandchildren, as 
well as those mentined above. The elder 
Wisegarver owned much land in Goose 
Creek township. The Wisegarver school 
was built on their land. 



Joel Churchill was also an early settler 
of the 1970's. He married Lucretia Bon- 
durant. One son, Edgar, spent his life 
north east of DeLand where Howard Gantz 
lives today and then lived many years in 
DeLand, living first where Wrench's live 
and then in the Hermann Meyer house. 
They finally moved to Cerro Gordo. Both 
were quite old when they died, Mrs. 
Churchill passing shortly after her 100th 
birthday. They had one son, Wayne, who 
died in a farm accident. His wife was 
Gertrude Conner who was the local 
telephone operator for many years. 
Edgar's brother Will also remained in the 
township, being the father of Alice 
Churchill Conner, Harold and Edgar and 
Gertrude Jordan. 

John Kirby. veteran, member of the 2nd 
Illinois Cavalry, had one horse shot out 
from under him but escaped any injury 
himself. He returned to the county and in 
1868 was elected sheriff. After that he was 
in the stock business. His farm was in the 
eastern part of the township. 

John W. Kingston came to Piatt county 
about 1867 from Woodford county. He 
bought 280 acres for seven dollars an acre 
in the southwest part of Goose Creek 
township which he farmed until 1893 when 
he retired and turned his land over to his 
boys. Mrs. Kingston's name was Sarah 
Bunting, daughter of John and Jane 
Bunting who were also residents of Goose 
Creek township. Mr. John W. Kingston was 
director of Enterprise school for many 
years as was his son George W. Kingston 
and his grandson Carl Kingston. All three 
lived upon this original farm, Carl until his 
death recently. His son Robert and family 
lives in Weldon. Carl's other two sons, 
Corwin and Franklin also live there. 
Robert has two children. 

John Cypers. veteran of the Civil War 
purchased eighty acres near DeLand in 
187U Mr. Cyphers had five children but 
lost four, three at one time from 
diphtheria. His son Jerry, grew up and 
married and had two children. He moved 
from here Mr. Cyphers lived to be quite an 
old man. His house, which stoood just east 
of the Trenchard home and park, was 
destroyed by fire. 

Charles Dewey who lived 4' 2 miles north 
of DeLand first bought 120 acres and then 
increased his holdings until at one time he 
owned 1000 acres of land. He had a number 
of children including Hattie Dewey Convey 
who lived in Farmer City. She said that her 
father was a director of Wisegarver school 
at one time. Both of these farms is a 
Centennial farm. Mrs. Covey's daughters 
own them 

.John Dresback. Civil War veteran, first 
settled in Willow Branch Township in 1855 
but later moved to Goose Creek. The 
Dresback s owned the farm now occupied 
by Rex Webb. He retired to town and built 
a home where Nelda Olson's house now 
stands. This home was destroyed by 
fire Some of the Dresback children were 
Jessie, who married T.J. Ennis and lives 



in Champaign; (she was a member of the 
first graduating class of DeLand High 
School); Irma Dresback married J.F. 
Rankin who was the owner of the Rankin 
hotel on Main Street; and Eva married 
Lylc Cathcart who bought the Tilson 
blacksmith shop and ran it for many 
years 

Henry Gantz came to Illinois in 1867. 
After working on a Swigart farm for about 
a year, he bought forty acres in Piatt 
county. He traded it for 160 acres in Goose 
Creek township and operated it until 188:i 
when he moved to DeLand. In 1882 he 
erected a tile factory but sold it two years 
later and bought into the mercantile 
business of the Rinehart's. During the 
years that followed, the store was known 
as the Gantz Mercantile Co.. Gantz and 
Dewees, Gantz and Co. The son Ira 
eventually took over the store. Mr. Gantz 
had three children — Ira, Hattie (Mrs. Dr. 
Chas. Smith of St. Louis) and Inez, who 
became Mrs. George Hursh. 

Ira. who married Marie Hursh, went 
back to farming after running the Gantz 
store for several years. Their home is a 
mile south and west of DeLand. Their only 
son Richard now lives there. His sons 
William and John also farm in the town- 
ship. Mrs. Gantz was honored a year ago 
on her ninetieth birthday. She has a 
comfortable home in DeLand. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gantz' wedding is of in- 
terest because it was held as a surprise at 
an Epworth league convention which they 
were attending at the time' 

Marie Gantz was the daughter of Daniel 
Hursh and Abbie Wisegarver — daughter 
of George Wisegarver. Dan settled on a 
farm north east of DeLand before 1875. His 
father, John Hursh, also lived in the 
township. Mrs. Hursh died when Marie 
was very young and she was reared by her 
grandparents the George Wisegarver's. 
There were two other children, Ora, who 
married Charles Holforty and at one time 
lived on her father's farm; and George, 
who owned and farmed it but lived in 
DeLand where he was cashier of the First 
National Bank Mr Hursh started out his 
career as a school teacher. He married 
Inez Gantz, sister of Ira. They had one 
daughter Martha (Yowell) who now owns 
the farm. Donn Persons farms it. 

The Holforty s have three sons — Gerald 
who lives in Monticello. His wife was 
Marian Ennis daughter of a local 

Methodist pastor; Ted who married 
Sebern Leischner and lives in Arizona; 
and Glenn of Wisconsin. 

The Hubbard family was of importance 
to Goose Creek Township in the early days, 
as William C. Hubbart served in the 
legislature in the year 1874 and again in 
1895 elected on the Republican ticket. 
When he was a member of the House, he 
was said to "have given every con- 
sideration to every question that came 
up " He was a Civil War veteran — a 
member of the 107th infantry under 

— 11 — 



Colonel Snell's regiment. (Colonel Snell 
was connected later with the laying of this 
stretch of the railroad and the founding of 
Weldon). 

Mr. Hubbard's first wife was Clarinda 
Marquiss by whom he had one daughter- 
Florence, later Mrs. Wiley Dewees of 
DeLand. He had seven children by his 
second wife— including Edith and Oliver 
who were teachers in the township as was 
his son Richard, who after a year or two of 
teaching went into the Ministry. He 
preached at Ogden for two years but his 
health failed so he returned and farmed his 
father's farm. This farm was that upon 
which Donald Huisinga lives. He married 
Iris Porter and had four children— Faith, 
Ruth, Paul and Dwight. None of the family 
lives here now. 

James Stephenson, came to Goose Creek 
township in the late 60's, first renting a 
farm, then buying 240 acres where he lived 
until 1903 when he retired and moved to 
DeLand. He held the office of Justice of the 
Peace for four years. His daughter Minnie 
was the wife of E.O. Dillavou, one of 
DeLand's early blacksmiths. I believe this 
man was the grandfather of Viva 
Stephenson who was a resident of DeLand 
for many years— conducting a hardware 
business. Viva usually comes to our 
Homecoming, although he is in his 
eighties. 

Five generations of Reeds have lived in 
Piatt County and most of them have lived 
near DeLand. John (Jack) Reed, now 
farming near Lodge, makes the fifth 
generation to cutivate the soil of this 
county. Both Alva and his son Edwin have 
lived here all their lives. Amos Reed 
moved to Piatt County in the early I870's 
living in DeLand on farms west of the new 
town. Amos farmed on the farm now 
owned by the O'Daffers and the Barnes 
farm The O'Daffer farm was along the 
railroad wnich his son Ellis helped to 
grade the right of way with a team of 
mules. 

Ellis Reed came with his father in a 
covered wagon. On the way he was very ill 
with typhoid fever. He worked for the 
Chandlers tor awhile on a farm south of 
Weldon He played the violin (the Alva 
Reeds still have it and Alva's children — 
Lowell and Leah played it in the High 
School orchestra at the Township High 
School) and he and the Chandler boys 
played for most of the dances around 
DeLand, Weldon and Argenta. He married 
Ada Brown and moved to what was later 
Gilmore land northwest of DeLand, Mrs. 
Reed was the daughter of James A. Brown 
mentioned earlier. Ellis Reed and wife 
were the parents of two children— Alva 
and Olive. Olive died of typhoid the year 
she graduated. Ellis Reed bought property 
in DeLand where Mrs. Alva Reed lives and 
retired there. 

Alva Reed married Lottie Cameron. 
They have four children living— Lowell 
Reed of Pennsylvania; Bernice Hammit 
of Chicago; Leah West of McKinney, 
Texas and Edwin Reed who farms the land 



where his father lived before retirement. 
Alva Reed's moved to the Ellis Reed home 
after his parents death. Mr. Reed was a 
school director for many years, was on the 
cemetery board for a long time and was 
active in the community and the Christian 
Church. Mrs. Reed is in her nineties. They 
celebrated their fiftieth anniversary by 
riding in a wagon driving a team of horses 
in the parade at Homecoming. 

Edwin married Lola Huisinga and they 
have four children— Mary Ann a nurse, 
Joan and Carol in College and Jim in the 
eighth grade. Edwin farms considerable 
acreage, is on the Library Board and is 
active in the community and church. 

Arwine Reed who lived west of DeLand 
on what is now the John Ammann place 
was another prominent farmer. He was a 
charter member of the DeLand Christian 
Church. He raised fine race horses. His 
daughter Iris Shelton lives in Decatur. 
Pearl Flanigan Dresback. who was his 
step daughter, taught in DeLand Grade 
School. 

I am sure that there were many other 
residents of Goose Creek township before 
DeLand was founded, but there is, to my 
knowledge, no record of them. I should like 
to track them down and include them in 
honor of their contribution to our heritage 
but lack of time and space makes it im- 
possible. Most of the information con- 
cerning the people mentioned here has 
been condensed from the four old county 
histories and from obituaries in the 
DeLand Tribune. Many of the articles 
were of great interest, but they were too 
long for our space. I am sure that you will 
know from these sketches that Goose 
Creek township was built by hard working, 
responsible men and women and that their 
efforts have helped to make our lives the 
good life we have here today. 



AND NOW — A TOWNSHIP : 

For twenty years, the entire county of 
Piatt was governed by a group of 
comissioners elected at the voting 
precincts set up in 1841. But in 1856, the 
General Assembly passed a bill that made 
it possible for counties to also have 
township government if they so desired. 
Piatt County so desired. In 1860 she took 
the necessary steps to set up township 
government. The countv was divided into 
eight townships— Blue Ridge, Sangamon, 
Goose Creek, Monticello, Willow Branch, 
Bement, Cerro Gordo, and Unity. A 
supervisor was elected from each town- 
ship to look after the affairs of that 
township and to sit on the county board and 
manage the affairs of the county as a 
whole. 

The township form of government lasted 
over a hundred years— from 1861 to 1970. 
On the latter year, the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruled that county government should be 
set up according to the "one man, one 
vote" theory — declaring that the old way 



was unconstitutional because some 
supervisors represented more people than 
others. To comply with this decision, the 
supervisors divided the county into three 
districts, each one of which is to elect two 
representatives to sit on the county board. 
This board is concerned with the affairs 
that affect the county such as taxes, the 
nursing home, county roads, etc. The local 
buisness of the township is still ad- 
ministered by the township board headed 
by a supervisor elected in that township. 
At the election of April 1, 1971, Mr. Harper 
of Blue Ridge and Mr. Branch of 
Sangamon were elected to represent 
District one, composed of Blue Ridge, 
Sangamon, Goose Creek, Willow Branch, 
and a portion of Bement Township. 
Monticello Township comprises District 
two and the remainder of the county — 
Cerro Gordo, Unity and the rest of Bement 
Township makes up District three. The 
population in the three districts are as 
equal as the board could make it. 

This set-up should work out as well as 
the old although there may have to be 
boundary changes from time to time as the 
population shifts just as there are 
congressional district changes as the 
population shifts. 

WHAT'S IN A NAME? 

Goose Creek Township received its 
name from the creek that flows through it. 
The creek, in turn, was given the name by 
early settlers who noticed that each year a 
pair of wild geese nested on its banks west 
of the site of DeLand. Some people did not 
like the name "Goose Creek" for the 
township and in the 1890's a petition was 
circulated and sent to the Board of 
Supervisors requesting that the name be 
changed to "DeLand Township." This was 
reported in the county paper by the 

DeLana correspondent who commented: 
"This certainly is a wise thing to do. 
Whatever conditions were in the early 
days to suggest the name, is no longer 
consistent with the natural conditions of 
our township, works financial prejudice by 
conveying a false impression of our land. 
The truth is, we have as valuable land as 
can be found anywhere." 

Evidently the Supervisors were not 
impressed as there were never any more 
items in the paper concerning the petition 
or its fate. And the name "Goose Creek" 
still stands. Incidently, no one now seems 
to mind it. 

The truth is, we DO have as valuable 
land as can be found anywhere — some of 
the richest land in the Nation is found in 
Piatt and some of the surrounding coun- 
ties. When the elevators at DeLand can 
take in over a million bushels of corn in one 
year, as they did in 1971, one wonders just 
what "financial prejudice" was created by 
the township's name! 

— 12 — 



TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENT 

After the township form of government 
went into effect in 1861, an election was 
held to elect the governmental officials. 
The first Supervisor was Seth Langdon, 
who lived on a farm south of DeLand. The 
second supervisor was Ezra Marquiss, the 
third, T. E. Bondurant. There have been 
eighteen men since then who have served 
in that office. They were: M.M. Harsh- 
barger, J.H. Campbell, Dr. J.H. Wood, 
John Kirby, W.F. McMillen, Wiley 
Dewees, A.H. Dilatush, L.M. Marvel, S.C. 
Rodman, John Olson, G.R. Trechard, G.R. 
Hursh, Carlyle Doyle, Wm. G. Trigg, 
Harry Bickel, John Leischner, Irl Cath- 
cart, and Roy Mullvain. Of these, only 
Leischner, Trigg and Mulvain, are living. 
Mulvain is the supervisor at the present 
time. ( These names are not in order. Some 
served several terms, others only one. And 
one or two resigned before their terms 
were finished). 

In addition to the supervisor, other of- 
ficials of the township have included a 
town clerk, town treasurer, assessor, 
collector, road commissioner, a constable. 
Justice of the Peace, and three town 
auditors. Some of these have been 
eliminated over the years. Now we elect 
the supervisor who acts as treasurer, the 
clerk, the assessor, the road commissioner 
and the three auditors. The supervisor 
handles all the monies, including the levies 
of the Carnegie Library and the Cemetery 
Board, both of which are supported by 
township taxation, but function 
separately. The two boards have always 
been elected as non-political offices. 

Taxes are now collected by the county 
treasurer. They can be paid at this office 
or at the local hank Levies for all 
departments are made at a town meeting 
at the town hall in April. Ordinances are 
passed then as needed. All citizens are 
eligible to attend and vote on any business 
that is voted upon. The town meeting is 
patterned after the old town meetings of 
New England. 

The township board has certain func- 
tions which it has exercised over the years 
including the care of the poor, the building 
and maintenance of roads and bridges, the 
floating of the railroad bonds, collecting 
dog taxes, the building of a pound. Some of 
these are things of the past including the 
railroad bonds and dog taxes. The bonds 
are paid and the dog taxes are collected by 
the county. And we no longer have a 
pound. The county board has taken over 
the maintenance of certain roads between 
towns known as county roads, and over- 
sees local option elections, ridding the 
township of trash and zoning. 



Biggest Little Town 

on Earth 

DeLand Centennial 

1873 — 1973 



FROM TIIK MINUTES 

A township record book dating Sep- 
tember 8, 1868 through 1894 gives a running 
account of the activities of the township 
board. It lists the results of elections, goes 
into details in their troubles with railroad 
bonds levied to help build the railroad, the 
building and upkeep of the roads, taxes, 
the problems of poor relief (welfare is 
dispensed quite differently now), the 
animal pound, and sundry other matters. 

Taxes were important in the early days 
just as they are now. The assessor 
assessed property in the early days 
though the list of taxable items has 
changed considerably through the years. 
The dog tax, which today is paid to the 
county treasurer was then collected 
locally but was used for the same purpose 
it is today, to recompense farmers for 
sheep, hogs, chickens and other livestock 
killed by packs of marauding dogs. Then, 
however, if the township had more dog tax 
money on hand than they needed, they 
used it for other purposes. At one time, 
they had a surplus of over $300 which they 
used to pay off some of the coupons of the 
railroad bonds. 

In those days, even the townspeople kept 
chickens, cows, pigs and other animals 
and allowed many of them to run at large. 
There were no automobiles to endanger 
the animals nor to be endangered. But they 
were a nuisance to the many people who 
raised gardens. In April 1869, an attempt 
was made to prohibit animals from run- 
ning at large in the township but it failed. 
However, by 1894 it seemed necessary to 
do something about them especially in the 
village. A pound was established at the 
west end of the east half of lot twelve. ( This 
was near the south end of what is now the 
park.) The poundmaster (who was elec- 
ted), could charge $1 per head for any 
horse, cow or ass he found running at large 
and 50c for any hog, sheep or goat. Later 
the fines were reduced to 50c and 25c. 
Ironically, the first animal impounded 
turned out to be the property of a 
prominent citizen who was also a town 
official! 

Welfare was also the buisness of the 
supervisor through the county board. 
Some of the early supervisors tried hard 
not to have too many residents on relief. 
This wasn't too difficult, as it was con- 
sidered a disgrace by most people to have 
to have help by the county or to go to the 
"Poor Farm." Folks, in those days were 
expected to work and most everyone 
preferred to make his own living. In Goose 
Creek, they succeeded very well. We know 
of one case where a family from another 
Piatt county community moved here, and 
was speedily moved back to their former 
home when the Goose Creek Supervisor 
discovered that they were habitually on 
relief I 

The township board first met at Ashland 
schoolhouse two miles southwest of 
DeLand which was also used as a church 



and as a voting place as well as a general 
meeting place for various groups. In 1877, 
the Bondurant school was moved into 
DeLand and the board met there. If it was 
inconvenient to meet at the schoolhouse, 
they met at such places as a general store 
or the depot. After the new schoolhouse 
was built in 1886, the school board decided 
to not allow the township board to meet in 
the new building. Thereupon, the township 
board decided to build a town hall, not to 
cost over $55. However, Seth Langdon 
owned a small building that he had earlier 
built for a store and postoffice and he was 
willing to sell it for $375. That included the 
building, shelving, counter, a large stove 
and pipes and half of lot 12 block 14. (This 
was the same lot on which they later built 
the pound and was located the third lot 
from the south end of what is now the 
park.) When the Catholic church was sold 
later, the board bought it and it became 
the town hall where we vote today. In the 
early 1900's, the original town hall was 
purchased by G.R. Trechard who moved it 
to the farm at the east end of 3rd street 
where it is now used as a scale house. The 
ceiling of the building was profusely 
decorated with a design and some of it still 
shows. While voting and the town meeting 
is still held at the town hall, the board now 
usually meets at the firehouse which is 
much more convenient. 

A COMMUNITY OF FARMERS 

Goose Creek started out as a farming 
community and remains so today. There 

are no mines (although at one time there 
was talk of starting a coal mine), no oil 
industry (although oil companies have 
drilled for oil on several farms and found 
none), and there have been few factories. 
Most of those have been farm related, as 
have many of the businesses in DeLand. 
Until recently, the village has been the 
home of many retired farmers, but lately 
it also has many families whose bread 
winner commutes to Champaign to his 
work. 

Changes in the farming industry would 
probably make the eyes of the earliest 
settlers bulge could they see their farm 
land today. Their early attempts at 
making a living from the soil were made 
under extreme hardship. Since they 
thought the prairies not fit for cultivation, 
they had to clear the forest areas and that 
meant farming among stumps and on 
slopes. Their plowing was done by hand- 
plows or. at best, small walking plows 
pulled by horses or oxen. Harvesting was 
done by hand The corn was cut and piled 
into a shock, being husked from the shock 
as needed and shelled in a small handmill 
Wheat and oats were harvested by cutting 
with a scythe, stacked in shocks anii 
threshed with a flail. All this is very 
primitive in our eyes, but it furnished the 
needs of food and perhaps a little surplus 

- la- 







fT^ 



for market. Mills for grinding grain were 
lew and far between. It was a long trip to 
Decatur or Danville to grind grain or 
market it and sometimes the grain was 
taken in a wagon clear to Chicago. Ezra 
.Marquiss told of taking a load of 22 bushels 
of wheat by horse and wagon to Chicago. 
It took him fourteen days and the wheat 
was sold for 40c a bushel ' Cattle, ready for 
market, were driven to Chicago for sale. 

As time went on, farming was expanded 
and processes changed and new farm 
implements were invented. It was a great 
day for the farmers when a new farm 
implement appeared on the market. 

One of the first things the pioneer farmer 
had to do was to drain his land. Remember 
that the land here was a vast swamp in the 
rainy seasons. Someone invented a mole- 
like contraption with a cutting blade that 
went ahead of the mole which, when pulled 
through the ground made smooth packed 
runways for water. Thus they were able to 
drain the prairies and make good farm 
land out of them. These runways lasted for 
many years— in fact, a few have been 
found west of town during this century. In 
the I880's, tile was invented and put in to 
replace the mole channels. Drainage 
ditches have been put in from time to time 
to help the creek carry away the water. 
There are several drainage districts in 
existence today which are supported by a 
small tax and makes it fKssible to keep the 
drainage of the township effective. In the 
I880's there were 14 tile factories in Piatt 
County including one at the east edge of 
DeLand where there is now a dump yard. 

Corn was still husked by hand until the 
1930's. Farm wagons were fitted with 
"bump boards" making an extension to 
the height which kept the corn from going 
beyond the wagon when the worker, 
walking along the other side of the wagon 
pulled the ears of corn from the husk and 
the stalk and threw it into the wagon. The 
horses pulling the wagons walked along 
slowly without much attention from the 
husker. They seemed to know their job. 
Early each morning in the fall the air was 
filled with the sound of ears of corn hitting 
the bumpboards. The husker (or shucker, 
as he was commonly called) went out as 
soon as daylight came, shucked a load, 
came in and scooped it by hand into the 
crib, ate his dinner, rested a few moments 
and went out for a second load. In the 
shorter days of autumn and early winter, 
they were often unloading the second load 
after dark. It was slow and tedious work. 

The farmer usually needed extra help at 



husking time and each fall there was an 
influx of workers from southern Illinois 
and Kentucky to help with this work. They 
were paid so much per bushel for each 
bushel of corn husked and given room and 
board for the duration of their stay. This 
meant a lot of cooking for the farmer's 
wife, but that went with farm life. Some of 
the buskers were quite adept at husking 
and vied with one another over the number 
of bushels husked each day. This led to 
corn husking contests. 

These contests began in the early I920's, 
and were continued until sometime in the 
1940's when the mechanical corn picker 
became the machine of the hour and 
"corn-shucking" became a thing of the 
past. Local men from each township were 
eligible to enter the county contest and the 
winner of that contest was eligible for the 
State event. Winner of the State contest 
went on to the National contest. The 
contests were moved to a different farm 
each year-one that had a good yield. It was 
held in Goose Creek Township a couple of 
time. Each busker was given a number of 
rows to husk in a limited amount of time. A 
gleaner went along behind, husking the 
corn missed by the contestant. When the 
time was up, the wagons were brought in 
and the loads weighed. Points were 
deducted for each pound of corn gleaned 
and the husks thrown into the wagon. A 
fast busker could still lose if too many 
points were taken offf. The writer once 
attended one of these contests. It was as 
exciting to the onlookers as a basketball 
tournament! 



vy "^ 




Several local men were participants in 
these contests. Orville Welch, Wilson 
Webb, Drew Peacock, Paul Marquiss, 
Eugene Oakley, Leamon White, Virgil 
Harris, Paul White, Paul Manning, Robert 
Jones, Lewis Darsham and Ecus Vaughn 
who entered from a neighboring township 
but was well known here The Goose Creek 
township men did well, Orville Welch won 
the county championship in six or seven of 
the ten or eleven times he entered, and in 
1931 won both the State and National 
championship. Leamon White was also the 
winner one year and Ecus Vaughn won the 
State meet and came in third in the 
National. Gene Oakley was a winner in 
1937 and Chas. Fleener of Hammond was a 
county winner several times. Early in the 
1940's the Second World War helped the 
newly invented corn picker bring the 
husking contests to a close. 

Today, even the corn picker is becoming 
obsolete. Most farmers now use a combine 



a machine that strips the ear from the 

stalk, shells the grain from the cob, 

delivering it into a bin or wagon while the 

ground up husks and cobs are dropped to 

the ground to be plowed under and added 

to the soil. From the field the shelled corn 

can be taken directly to the elevator where 

it is dried, stored, and eventually shipped 

when the price is right. The old customs of 

raking up the stalks and burning them in 

the fields before plowing, storing the corn 

in the crib, then shelling it out and burning 

the huge cob piles resulting, are 

eliminated. This has had an effect on the 

modern cob industry, since there are 

fewer cobs available. It also makes it 

fortunate that cobs are no longer used for 

fuel. Time was when every household 

filled a cov house each fall with cobs to use 

for fuel and for starting fires in coal 

stoves. Cobs were more plentiful then than 

wooden kindling. The passing away of the 

cob house eliminates one of the chores the 

boys of the family had that helped keep 

them busy and out of mischief! 

The amount of corn produced has grown 
over the years and the length of time to 
harvest it has been greatly reduced. When 
the weather was bad, sometimes corn 
remained in the field until spring, but in 
1971 over a million bushels were brought 
into the local elevators before November 
first. 

Methods have also changed drastically 
in the production of other crops. Wheat and 
oats which at one time were harvested by 
cutting, stacking in shocks and threshing 
by steam powered threshing machines, 
are now harvested by combines. Like the 
corn harvest, the harvest is concluded in 
one operation. When threshing was the 
way, the community was divided into 
threshing rings with the thresher going 
from farm to farm. When the thresher 
pulled into a farm, it was accompanied by 
all the farmers in that ring along with their 
wives and children and a few visitors from 
town. The men worked in the field, the 
women slaved over the hot cook stove, and 
the kids had a good time, helping some but 
mostly getting in the way. A lavish dinner 
was served at noon, andiortunate were the 
guests who had come for a good dinner! 
The old saying that someone cooked 
enough for a threshing dinner was un- 
derstood by anyone who ever ate such a 
meal. 

The straw from the grain was made mto 
a stack and used for feed and bedding for 
livestock. Sometimes it was bailed (made 
into large square bundles and tied with 
bailing twine) to be used in tlie winter 
time. The same thing was done to the 
clover and alfalfa hay raised for feed, 
although the hay was sometimes put into 
the hay mow of the barn, loose. Now, the 
farmer does not need so much hay and 
straw because he has stopped raising 
many livestock. Tractors have taken the 
place of horses, milk cows are now found 

— 14 — 



m^ 



Wkk 



only on dairy farms, chickens are few. 
The farmers, like the townspeople, buy 
their poultry and eggs and meat from the 
supermarket. Farmers wives used to sell 
cream and eggs to the local store for pin 
money. I wonder what they do now! The 
riding horse is still popular and there are a 
few in the township. A few hogs and sheep 
are raised for market, and a few cattle are 
brought in and fattened for market. So 
farm life has indeed changed since 
Abraham Marquiss set foot in Goose Creek 
Township in 1833. 

Not only are the farming methods dif- 
ferent but the farmer is no longer con- 
sidered a hick. He lives in a modern 
dwelling with electricity and running 
water and plumbing, has good cars, sends 
his children to a good consolidated school 
and farms more land. This results in fewer 
farmers and fewer farm hands. 

Farmers have had their ups and downs 
over the years. Government farm 
programs and the farm bureau have 
helped them to improve methods. They get 
help from the University of Illinois with its 
agricultural research. Many farmers 
now are college graduates. And the Home 
extension sponsored by the university help 
the farmers wives. But in the 1930's , when 
the whole nation was in the throes of a 
terrible depression, many farmers suf- 
fered great losses. People who had been 
considered well to do became carried 
away with the good times and mortgaged 
their farms to buy more and higher priced 
land. When the depression struck, the 
price of farm land and farm products 
struck bottom. Many farmers went broke 
and had to sell their farms and implements 
and stock for practically nothing. This 
period was known as the era of the ten cent 
sale. It was a terrible time in our history. 
Many people were hungry. Many well-to- 
do people were for a time on relief. Those 
who survived the ordeal have come back 
with success. Farms are better cared for 
and the gently rolling prairies of Goose 
Creek township are a beautiful sight. 




^if^ 



KROM INDIAN THAIL 
TOSUFKKUKJIIUAYS 

Roads have been of great importance in 
the progress of our country. Early roads 
were not very good, and many of the early 
settlers followed only a trail made by the 
Indians or wild animals and sometimes 
they had to travel across the prairies. 
There were few or no bridges, so it was 
necessary to ford rivers and pick out their 
way as best they could. The counties, in 
those early days, could concern them- 
selves only with the most important roads. 
The settlers had to build their own. They 
seemed to find the best ways to get from 
one place to another. The Indian and 
animal trails were seldom straight, so 
even today we find some country roads 
that are winding. There are some of these 
in Goose Creek township in the 
southeastern part where the first settlers 
lived. Even the road to Monticello has 
some curves left over from its early use. 
Later, when the county and township took 
over the task of putting in the roads and 
bridges, they followed section lines, giving 
us the checkerboard pattern we have 
today. (Since the distance from corner to 
corner is one mile, what will it be like, I 
wonder, when we change to the metric 
system? Will it be 1.8 plus kilometers from 
cross road to cross road? Or will they tear 
up all the roads and start over?) 

According to an early map of Piatt 
county made in the 1860's after the 
township was formed, several of the roads 
we have today were in existence then. 
There were two that crossed the township 
from east to west -— the road that is now 
route 10 and the road that passes the Gantz 
farm from west of Mrs. Huisinga's to 
Lodge. There were three north-south roads 
that went clear through the township - 
one on the west boundary, one on the east 
boundary and one a mile west of the latter. 
The road that we call the Farmer City 
Road was in, but ended at route 10. The 
road from Monticello began at the Duck 
farm, came west across the river past the 
Mcintosh Mill, joined a road at the corner 
west of there that angled northwest as it 
does today as far as Morain cemetery. 
There it stopped. There was no official 
road laid out this side of the cemetery. 
However, a map of 1875 shows that a road 
began at the Ashland schoolhouse, angled 
southwest past what is now John 
Leischner's and joined the Monticello road 
at the cemtery . This was probably the road 
that Lincoln followed on his circuit of the 
county seats. His route was from Decatur 
to Clinton, to Monticello, to Urbana, to 
Danville. In 1924, Mr. William Lodge was 
instrumental in getting and having placed 
two Lincoln markers in Piatt County. One 
was in Goose Creek township at the corner 
west of Mrs. Huisinga's on the north east 
corner of the intersection, on the county 
line oetween Piatt and DeWitt. The other is 
on the road separating Piatt and Cham- 
paign counties north of route 10 in 



Sangamon township. Each reads: 

"Abraham Lincoln passed this way as he 
rode the Eighth Judicial Circuit in the 
State of Illinois 1843-1859." 




Lincoln Marker southwest of DeLand. 

There was no official road out of DeLand 
to the south, but fAr. Clifford Porter said 
that there was a short-cut road that joined 
the road past Leischner's. Richard Tilson 
had a blacksmith shop on the Seth 
Langdon farm in what is now the Gantz 
timber. A trail (not a road) started at 
approximately what is now the southwest 
corner of our park, angled southwest to the 
creek and along the east side of the creek 
to the blacksmith shop where it could be 
forded. From there it followed along the 
west side of the creek until it joined the 
road before mentioned. 

From the time the township was formed, 
roads have been and still are, one of the 
main businesses of the township board. 
Part of that business is to put m new roads 
if needed, and bridges over streams and to 
keep all of them usable. To facilitate the 
care of the roads, a road commissioner is 
elected to oversee them. At first, the 
township was divided into districts with a 
district overseer who was responsible to 
the commissioner in his area and saw to it 
that any bad conditions were improved. 
The road commissioner was responsible to 
the township board. Now, we have one 
commissioner who manages the road 

— 15- 



building and upkeep in the entire township. 
This is because the commissioner has 
modern efficient machinery to work with. 

Today, the entire township work is paid 
for by taxes and the work is done by men 
hired for the job by the commissioner. This 
was not always true. Each farmer was 
expected to care for the roads bordering 
his farm. After each rain, the farmer took 
his team and drag and pulled it over the 
road to eliminate the ruts when the ground 
had dried. If the farmer could not work his 
assigned road, he hired someone to do it. 
Any pay he received came from a poll tax 
— a tax on each male head of a household. 
This allowed everyone to help pay for the 
service he gained from good roads 
whether he had any along his farm or not. 
Anyone working out his road tax was 
allowed $2.50 a day for man and team. 
During 1869, there were 279 work days put 
in for which the township paid. At that 
time, the township board anticipated 
spendint $500 for such improvements as 
bridges and levies. Even with all this 
work, the roads were often impassable, 
especially during fall and sprmg ramy 
periods, and a blizzard kept everyone at 
home for days. 

Sometimes the building of new roads 
was opposed by people along the proposed 
route, especially those who had to give up 
some of their land for it. In that case, a 
road trial was held. One trial for which we 
have an account was the three-quarter 
mile stretch running south of DeLand, 
which today is paved. From the county 
paper comes this story: 

"Quite an interesting and important 
road trial commenced last Saturday at 
DeLand before Squire M.N. Secrist. It 
seems that the people of DeLand have no 
other communication with the outside 
world by wagon roads other than that 
furnished by a road coming into the place 
from the north. They have been en- 
deavoring to remedy this for a long time as 
they have felt that the business of the town 
depends upon other outlets. 

"Of those favoring a new road, T.E. 
Bondurant is one of the strongest sup- 
porters. He has a large property interest in 
DeLand whose value depends much upon 
the village's growth. He and its people 
have desired to open a road from that 
place which would intersect a section line 
road one mile south of the railroad. On the 
other hand and opposing the road is Mr. 
Ezra Marquiss and other large lan- 
dholders. As it is proposed to run the road, 
his tract of 280 acres south of town will be 
cut into two separate pieces— one of forty 
acres and one of 240 acres. On the smaller 
tract is a pond of water used for watering 
the stock pastured on the larger tract. Mr. 
Marquiss claimed that by cutting off this 
main body of land from the pond of water, 
he will suffer serious damage and he asks 
compensation therefore. He averred that it 
is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain 
water on his main tract. He therefore . 



claims damage to the amount of $1700. 

"Most of the prominent stockmen of the 
county were subpoeneid by the trial. Their 
testimony as to the cost of fencing was 
nearly the same. As to the damage, some 
placed it at $300 and others placed it as 
high as $3,000. The practicability of 
buildmg a passageway under the road was 
even considered. Opinions differed. 

"A jury of eighteen men sat at the trial 
— six each from Goose Creek township, 
Sangamon and Blue Ridge. Mr. Piper 
represented Mr. Marquiss, and Mr. 
Emerson of the firm of Hamilton and 
Emerson, represented Mr. Bondurant. 
The trial lasted through Saturday and 
Monday. After being out for about an hour 
on Monday night, the jury rendered a 
verdict in favor of Mr. Marquiss for $600. 
At this figure, the Commisssioner of High- 
ways of Goose Creek township will proceed 
to lay out the road." 

This road trial was in 1876. Later, date 
unknown, the road was extended to the 
road that went past Leischners and joined 
the Monticello road at Morain cemetery as 
it is today. 

A few other road trials are mentioned in 
the papers and records but it is difficult to 
pinpoint their locations. The record was 
likely to report that a road was put in from 
So and So's house to a certain place. 
Unless you know where So and So lived, 
one guess is as good as another! 

In December of 1902, the paper recorded 
the plans to build a new road as a con- 
tinuation of South 3rd street. (This is the 
road past the old Township High School 
ending at Miss Gertie Swisher's. 

"The new road which is to be an inlet 
into DeLand for the people west of the 
village is now a certainity. The road was 
divided equally between the village and 
the township. Each is to build one bridge 
and do half the grading for the road. Much 
of the labor is to be donated. Seymour 
Marquiss (son of Ezra) has donated the 
piling for the village bridge but the vilage 
workers are to cut down the trees and get 
them to the site. This road will be of 
convenience not only to the farmers who 
now have a round-about way to come 
here, but to DeLand citizens as well." 

Before 1914, the roads were dusty in 
summer, muddy in spring and fall, and full 
of ruts in winter, When the ground began 
freezing, farmers jacked up their 
automobiles in the runway of the corncrib 
or barn, and got out the horse and buggy 
for the winter. But in 1914 the first attempt 
to improve the roads occurred. Having 
heard that oil made good roads, Goose 
Creek ordered some and spread it on. It 
worked pretty well, although the freezing 
and thawing of winter and the spring rains 
combined to cause them to break up in the 
spring. But most cars could get around on 
them and the oiling continued until the late 
thirties. 

By 1938, there was some talk of bringing 
some of the rural school children into town 
but the roads made this a problem. Goose 



Creek township was ready for better 
roads. After talking for nearly a year, 
petitions were circulated and 125 people 
signed. A special election was held with 
the gravel vote carrying and a bond issue 
of $100,000 was sold immediately. The 
Rowe construction company of 
Bloomington was the low bidder for 
processing and the John McElroy Co. of 
Decatur for the hauling and spreading. A 
roadbed had to be made with proper 
drainage, gravel tested for the right kind. 
This was'found at Mahomet and Lane. It 
took 48,000 square yards of gravel to cover 
the roads eight feet wide. Total miles 
covered was 61 and six trucks were used in 
hauling. The job was completed in 
January of 1939. The roads held up very 
well and made it possible to consolidate 
the country schools in 1945. By 1950, they 
needed much work done on them and again 
the people of the township recognized the 
need and voted for bonds to pay for a new 
coat of gravel. In 1961 a new road tax was 
approved. Since that time, oil topped with 
crushed rock or gravel has been used over 
the gravel bed and a certain number of 
miles are renewed each year. The result is 
that we have good all weather roads. 

STATE ROADS 
IN THE TOWNSHIP 

There are three stretches of concrete 
pavement in Goose Creek township. One is 
route 10 which crosses the township at the 
north edge of DeLand. The other two are at 
the southern and northern ends of town— 
toward Monticello and Farmer City. They 
are joined by a pavement through the 
village. 

The agitation for pavements began 
about 1917. Hard roads were being put in in 
other nearby areas and the fever for good 
roads began to reach here. In January of 
1917 a petition was circulated asking for 
three miles of State Aid road. People 
subscribed various amounts to help the 
cause along. It was first planned to put the 
road from the north end of Highway 
avenue towards Farmer City. G.R. 
Trenchard was appointed Superintendent 
of the project. He suggested that the road 
be divided into two stretches— one north 
and one south of the village. Since the 
mileage had been set at 1 Vi miles, each 
stretch would be 3/4 of a mile long. The 
worth of different materials was debated. 
Since concrete roads had not yet proved 
their worth, bricks won. W.F. Lodge of 
Monticello had the lowest bid. He did i.ot 
consider concrete first grade material and 
when the village board talked of putting in 
a connecting pavement, he tried to per- 
suade them not to use it. By September 
1919 the grading on the south stretch was 
ready for the eighteen carloads of brick 
that had arrived. By December 12, 1919 the 
south road was open to the public though 
the grading was not finished. Work on the 

— 16 — 



north road was suspended until spring. 
The finished roads were ten feet wide. The 
rest of the road was oiled. 

These roads were used until the 1950's. 
They had not been extended to Farmer 
City or Monticello as the citizens had 
hoped. By this time, they had deteriorated 
greatly. The County, by the use of State 
Aid, decided to replace them. The work 
started in the summer of 1956. It was slow 
work. The company that put them in had 
several other jobs and alternated the 
work. They worked all night several nights 
on the south stretch to finish up the job 
before freezing set in. This was at the end 
of November 1956. The north stretch was 
finished the next spring. 

The new pavements are of concrete and 
are of double width. The concrete was laid 
over the brick. It is maintained by the 
county. 

ROUTE 10 

In the late twenties, the people of this 
area began rooting for a hardroad that 
would connect DeLand with neighboring 
cities such as Champaign, Clinton and 
Decatur. As early as 1923, when a road 
between Chicago, Kankakee and Decatur 
was proposed, some of the men from here 
attended a meeting at Clinton at which was 
formed the Central Hard Road 
Association. These people endorsed a road 
from Kankakee to Farmer City, to CUnton, 
to Lincoln on to Mason City, Havana and 
Lewiston. They also endorsed one 
beginning at White Heath or Seymour to 
run through Lodge, DeLand, Weldon and 
Lane to Clinton. Hard road delegates from 
several counties, including Piatt, met at 
Springfield regarding the proposed routes. 
Governor Small expressed himself as 
favorable to them. In April, a bond issue 
was voted on and as a result, DeLand was 
near two routes. Route 48 was to go 
through Weldon from Farmer City, and 
route 120 was to go along the north edge of 
DeLand. 

The building of roads by the state is a 
slow process. In this case, surveying did 
not start until late in 1929, when they began 
on the strip from Seymour to CUnton. (The 
route from Champaign to Seymour and 
thence to Monticello, Bement and Decatur 
was then numbered 10 and the spur that 
joined route 10 at Seymour to pass through 
DeLand was numbered 120.) Property was 
secured for the right of way of 80 feet. The 
road, as originally planned would have by- 
passed Lodge and gone closer to 
Galesville, but the routing was changed to 
cross the Wabash at Lodge and came 
closer to White Heath than to Centerville. 
The road made a sweeping curve two 
miles east of DeLand. East of Lodge, a 
spur ran south across the river joining 
route 10 to Monticello. This spur was built 
by the county. 

By January 1931, the state had secured 
the necessary right-of-way and hoped to 
get all the court action over in time to let 
the contracts. This was accomplished in 



February and included the strip from 
Weldon to DeLand and on east for 3.07 
miles. The cost from DeLand to Weldon 
was $103,856.12. Work began in May with 
grading, bridges and culverts being 
placed. The stretch from DeLand to 
Weldon at route 48 was opened to travel by 
September. DeLand could now go on 
pavement to several places although it 
was a round-about way. In August there 
had been a wage dispute but it was settled 
in time to start work on the east section in 
September. An effort was to be made to 
finish the work before cold weather set 
in. It was not finished until sometime in 
1932. A little trouble arose sometime 
during this period over the hiring of ten 
negro laborers. People here felt that local 
men out of work should have been hired. 

During 1932, route 120 was opened all the 
way from route 10 west of Seymour to 
Clinton, and route 48 was finished. Later, 
the route from Champaign to the western 
Illinois line was renumbered 10, as it is 
today, and the route from where the road 
to Mahomet joined 10 through Monticello 
was renumbered 47. 

So the roads have changed. Lincoln 
would have a much shorter journey if he 
were to travel today through Goose Creek 
township. 

KIKAL .S( IIOOLS OF 
<;0<)SK CKKKK TOWNSHIP 

Whon the rural schools were con- 
solidated in 194.') with the DeLand district. 
there were 13 school districts in the 
township, most of them in session. Rural 
schools were established very early in 
Goose (reek township The Ordinance of 
1787 made provision tor the establishment 
of schools and as the states were formed, 
they strengthened the means of establish- 
ment The value of one section in each 
township was set aside for school pur 
poses. When a school was established on a 
piece of property, the owner often donated 
the piece of land. If the school was 
abandoned the land usually went back to 
the original owner 

The I irst school houses were built of logs 
According to school notes in the 1880's. in 
1840 there were only one or two frame 
buildings in the county. Slabs were used 
lor seats and desks, greased paper 
covered the windows and heat came from 
a fireplace. 

The first schoolhouse in Goose Creek 
Township was the Piatt school in the 
southeast corner of the township. It was 
called Piatt because it stood on land 
belonging to William Piatt. The original 
log school was replaced by a frame 
building which burned in the early I900's 
The building that replaced the burned 
building was a two room building The 
extra room was used for furnace, fuel. 
storage and play area. The Piatt district 
did not close its school until after most of 
the township schools had consolidated 
And being claser to Monticello than to 



DeLand. they petitioned out of the DeLand 
school district and sent their children to 
Monticello. 

This early schoolhouse was used for 
religious services as well as a schoolhouse. 
They regularly held Sunday school but 
depended upon itinerate preachers for 
their church services. A cemetery was 
established in the school yard where 
many of the pioneer families are buried. 
The cemetery still exists and is cared for 
bv the township It has the distinction of 
being the burial place of Captain and Mrs. 
Oiney. Mr. Olney was the Revolutionary 
veteran mentioned earlier. The couple 
were first buried at Hickory point ithey 
died here) but the remains were later 
disinterred by a grandson and placed in 
Piatt cemetery. The younger Olneys 
remained here unto 1883. 

The first teacher at Piatt school was 
William Patterson. Among the early 
teachers mentioned were Emma M- 
arquiss. Jennie Hickman and Jessie 
Holmes; the last. Mary Schultz. 

The early school districts were larger 
than they were later. They contained about 
eight sections. Families were larger then, 
and the children continued in school to a 
later age. It took longer to get through the 
elementary school then because the terms 
were shorter. They usually had two or 
three terms, coinciding with the farming 
seasons When farming was at its high 
points, the older children stayed home and 
helped This resulted in a large turnover of 
teachers for they were hired from term to 
ti-rm As time went on, each district was 
divided into two district making it 
necessary for children to walk so far And 
walk they did Only in the severest 
weather were children Uiken to school by 
their parents. Their noon lunch was 
carried with them in a bucket no hot 
lunches in the early days' Sometimes the 
lood was frozen before they got there And 
their toes too' Education was gained in a 
hard way 

The second school in the township was 
the Morain school. It too. originally, was a 
log building It. too, was used for church 
services and also for social events and for 
a voting place It also had a cemetery 
which still exists and which is cared for by 
the township ^'ou pass it on the country 
road to Monticello. The original school 
house and the one following it, stood 
between the cemetery and the creek. 
Former pupils remember of being able to 
swing across the creek on wild grapevines 
that were in the trees along the creek 
bank Piatt had been divided into Piatt and 
Hariiiony date unknown. Morain was 
divided into Morain and Pleasant Falls 
districts. The Pleasant Falls school site 
was much closer to the Morain 
schoolhouse than was desirable so the 
Morain school was moved west and south 
to a point just north of WW Welch's farm. 
Whether the building was moved or torn 
down and rebuilt on the new site is not 

— 17 — 



clear. Items in the newspaper indicated 
that they might have built a new building. 
To quote 

•Morain will use the old schoolhouse 
another year on its present site." 

The Morain school house is now a shed 
on the Welch farm 

Early teachers at Morain were Wiley 
Dewees and Anna Schultz; the last Edna 
Williams. 

Ashland school two miles southwest of 
DeLand was also a school which was used 
for church services. The Methodist 
Episcopal congregation who later built a 
church in DeLand, was organized there 
about 1870. It was also used for social 
activities and as a voting place. The 
township board held meetings there. And 
there is mention of an organization of 
farmers meeting there. I believe that this 

district had only the one building Ashland 
school closed its doors sometime before 
consolidation as its pupils dwindled in 
numbers. Lola Huisinga Reed was the 
teacher at the time of closing -1936. 

Kentuck school resulted early from 
division of the Ashland District. The date 
is unknown. It may have even preceded 
Ashland. I have always thought that the 
old Kentuck church built on the Meents 
farm and the early school were in the same 
building but on "an 187,'5 map, Kentuck 
school is shown east of the Meents farm 
and on the north side of the road on the line 
that separates Goose Creek from Willow 
Branch, Kentuck was a German neigh- 
borhood and some of the people settled 
there in the 1850's. They built a new school 
in 1902 just north of where Gregorys now 
live. It was a large school sometimes 
having more than fifty pupils When this 
building had a fire and had to be replaced, 
a modern bruck building was built It had a 
basement and a furnace, and when rural 
electrification came this way, Kentuck 
school was wired. The neighborhood had a 
community club for many years and when 
the building was sold following con- 
solidation, the community club leased it 
for twenty years. It was used a great deal 
for various gatherings and on one or two 
occasions when a home was needed for a 
short while, it was rented. By the time the 
twenty years was up, most of the original 
families were gone and interest had 
dwindled. Later, it was sold, reverted to 
the farm from which it had come and the 
building was torn down. Early teachers 
were Albert Young, and Laura Ashton. 
The last teacher was Lucinda Albert, 

Not much date is available about En- 
terprise which stood two miles west of 
Kentuck across the road from a country 
church of the same name. It, too, was 
consolidated in 1945 some of the pupils 
going to Weldon. some to DeLand and 
some to Cisco. Most of those nine sections 
there are now in the Monticello district 
since Monticello took in the Cisco district. 
However, some of the pupils go to DeLand- 
Weldon The last teacher at Enterprise 



was Lola Huising (Reed). Three Kingston 
men father, son and grandson served as 
directors. Early teachers were: Joseph 
Covington, Frank Seager. 




Rural school. Prospect — new and old 
buildings. 



Prospect, two miles beyond Enterprise, 
was situated on the county line — now 
route 48. It had two buildings. Its second 
building was built in 1911. While they were 
building it, they moved the old building to 
the back of the school yard and continued 
to use it. The new building was frame but 
had a basement and was as modern as 
they could make it at that time. Last 
teacher was Lois Ward. 

Piatt, Morain, Kentuck, Enterprise and 
Prospect were all in the southern tier of 
sections in the township. Ashland, 
Pleasant Falls and Harmony were two 
miles north of these. The original building 
at Pleasant Falls, was built in 1883 and 
lasted until 1910 when it burned. It was 
built upon what was then the Teter farm — 
later owned by the Trimby's and Harm 
Huisinga, the popcorn King. The new 
building was finished in 1912. The district 
sold bonds to pay for it. It was a frame 
building like Prospect with basement and 
furnace and a library room. In 1945, it was 
sold to Mr. Huisinga who used it for the 
storage of popcorn. Recently, it has been 
torn down, Edith Hubbard and Dora 
Watson were early teachers. Lola Reed 
Huisinga was the last teacher here, too! 
Nelda Olson taught this school for seven 
years. 

Harmony was struck off from Piatt 
early but the date is unknown. To our 
knowledge, there was only the one 
building. It stood across from the Kirkland 
place on the west side of a drainage ditch 
and had to have a bridge to get to it. After 
consolidation, it was sold to Florence 
Kirkland and is on her place being used for 
an implement building. Early teachers 
were Clarence Arndt and Chas. Campbell. 
The last teacher was Ruth Waller. 
Emerson Evans taught this school for 8 
years and Irlene Ammann (Honselman), 
six. 

Fairview school, two miles north of 
Harmony, had the record for long time 
teachers, Ethel Dalton taught there for 
thirteen years. Fairview, which stands 
today just off route 10, was originally 



located just north of the tracks at Combes 
Switch. This is the only Goose Creek 
Township school today not sold nor 
abandoned. It looks rather sad sitting 
there in the grove of trees with the weeds 
high around it. It rather makes one 
remember the old poem that begins 

•'Still sits the schoolhouse by the road, A 
ragged beggar sunning. 

Around it still the sumach grows And 
bumble bees are humming." 

Early teachers at Fairview were Jacob 
Keller and Fannie Trenchard. 

Two miles north of Fairview was 
Warner. It was sold to Howard Gantz and 
stands on the same site but is used for 
storage. Warner was the last rural school 
district to be formed in Piatt County. It 
was formed about 1909 according to a date 
on it, and was numbered 107. (The other 
schools in the township were numbered 
from 55 through 62 except for Enterprise 
and Prospect which were numbered 90 and 
91.) The earliest teacher of Warner we 
know about was Elsie Lanier and the last 
Lulu Keller, 

Mt, Vernon — north of DeLand had only 
one building to my knowledge. When sold, 
it was first moved to the Hursh farm where 
Persons lived, and later it was torn down. 
An early teacher was Lida Linton (Mrs, 
E,T, McMillen), The last teacher was 
Geneva Walker, Mr, Vernon had a couple 
of newsworthy items in the paper, A fire 
started one night but fortunately burned 
itself out after burning a large hole in the 
floor. And one morning, they found a dead 
man in the schoolhouse! He had evidently 
sought shelter there, 

Wisegarver school had two buildings, 
Mr, John Mansfield told of attending 
school there in the sixty's with around 
sixty other pupils. According to Mrs, 
Hattie Dewey Covev. who went to school 



there, the second building was built in 1893, 
E,A, Dewey, Otis Vittum and Jacob 
Mansfield were the directors at the time. 
Mrs. Edd Andrews of Monticello was the 
first teacher. The old building was sold and 
moved away. The new building was built 
because the first one was too small. The 
new building was later remodeled. Chas. 
Gilmore was one of the directors who 
supervised the remodeling. An indoor coal 
room, a library, an entrance hall and two 
chemical toilets were added. However, the 
chemical toilets were not satisfactory and 
they went back to the little white houses at 
the far end of the school yard. Almost all 
country schools habitually had last day 
dinners when the entire district gathered 
for a picnic and a good time. Sometimes a 
program was given and always the men 
and boys had a ball game. Wisegarver had 
an extra special one on its last closing day. 
Many of the former pupils were present 
and much time was spent at reminiscing. 
The children gave a program and a neigh- 
boring school came by and a spelling bee 
was held. The last teacher was Grace 
Paugh. 

We have left Western until last because 
it was at first part of the DeLand School 
district. The district was numbered No. 5, 
The pupils were first served by the Bon- 
durant School which stood across from the 
cemetery on Bondurant land. It was built 
in 1870. In 1877, the school board moved the 
Bondurant School into town. At the same 
time they built a second school west of 
town and called it West DeLand. Later, the 
district was divided into two districts and 
West DeLand became Western. Now 
Western as the people living today knew it, 
stood on the Northeast corner of the in- 
tersection at Mrs. Ammann's corner. But 
earlier settlers say that West DeLand 
stood very close to a Hackberry tree that 




Western School pupils — Cecile Long, teacher. 

— 18- 



stood at the end of what is now Trimble's 
lane. Thus it became known as the "Hack- 
berry School." Later, it was moved to the 
corner. Now the school board in their 
minutes planned to build it where the lands 
of Jacob Mansfield, Regnold and 
Dellemers joined. This was the corner at 
Ammann's. The building was built on 
Bondurant land, as Bondurant owned both 
the site proposed and the site at the 
hackberry tree. Why they built it first at 
the latter place is not known. The Western 
school was closed in 1938 for lack of pupils. 
It stood there for several years before 
being razed. The Ammann family lived in 
it for awhile when they were building their 
new house after the old one burned. Carol 
Watson was the last teacher. 

The Bondurant School was moved to 
town and became the DeLand School. 

Piatt County had good rural schools and 
that included those in Goose Creek 
Township. A rural school today fills the 
older people with nostalgia and the 
younger ones with disbelief that a school 
could be held in such a place. Anyone who 
has not either attended or taught a country 
school simply does not know what he has 
missed! Most of the village teachers in 
those days had begun teaching in a country 
school. It was an excellent way to gain 
experience. To begin with, it developed 
independence and initiative. A teacher 
was practically on his own except for what 
guidance the county school superintendent 
could give him. With Charles Mcintosh as 
superintendent, that was quite a bit, but 
you had to handle emergency yourselves. 
There was lots to do. You went early, built 
a fire in the furnace, and while the room 
heated, you swept the floor to keep warm. 
You carried in cobs and coal, cleaned the 
blackboard, dusted the furniture. 
Housekeeping chores done, you turned 
your attention to the lessons for the day. In 
the meantime half the pupils had arrived. 
Children got up early on the farm and 
many came to school without consulting a 
clock to see whether it was time to go M 9 
a.m. you began to conduct classes. Classes 
were many and you had only a few minutes 
for each one. The number of classes were 
reduced by alternating some each year. 
One year you taught 1st, 2nd, :ird, 5th, and 
7th and the next year 1st, 2nd, 
4th, 6th and 8th. Arithmetic in the first six 
grades was never alternated nor grammar 
in the 7th and 8th. At noon you played with 
the children or carried in more coal. At 
night, you carried in more coal and cobs to 
be ready for the morning. 

One of the reasons the schools were good 
were because attention was paid to the 
health and comfort of the children by 
becoming "Standard" schools. The state 
had set up certain standards for the school 
and most of the boards of cmmty schools 
complied by remodeling. This included 
such things as moving all the windows so 
that their was no cross light and so that the 
light came from the left; an extra door at 
the opposite end of the building for use in 



case of fire; a jacketed furnace that cir- 
culated fresh air from an outside vent; a 
wall of concrete to a certain depth so that 
ground water did not seep in the well. 
These and other things plus a good teacher 
made it possible for rural children to get a 
good education. But when pupils became 
few, the cost per child went up and con- 
solidation with the town school was the 
result. The country school is a thing of the 
past except in the memories of those who 
attended and taught them. The children 
may get a better education today, but to 
quote Mrs. Covey in her letter to 
Wisegarver school on the last day, "I am 
sure the pupils will never be any happier 
than I was, for I thoroughly enjoyed my 
school days." 

(NOTE To show how things have 

changed and people moved in and out 
The writer taught five of the township 
schools between 1916 and 1945 for a total of 
ten years and some 75 or 80 pupils. Of those 
pupils, only five remain in the township 
today' and only one still lives in the same 
house and the same district). 

A few of the former township teachers 
who lived in the township then and still live 
here are: Anora Lubbers Smith, Roberta 
Lubbers Kidd, Lola Huisinga Reed, Zelda 
Marvel, Geneva Walker, Geneva Goken 
Huisinga, Helen Crosby Foltz, Marjorie 
Roos Huisinga, Roberta Nodacker Per- 
sons, Grace Paugh. A few former local 
people who taught in the township were 
five Grethe girls — Antonia, Augusta, 
Jeanetta, Ottoline and Lenora, Myrta 
Conner, Irlene Ammann Honselman, 
Cecile Long Dial, Bernice Swartz, Gladys 
Dresback Gibson, Sebern and Marjorie 
Leischner, Ted Holforty, Alice Marvel, 
Alice Paugh Wrench, Gladys Souders 
Remmers, Wayne McMillen, Darlene 
Leischner Thompson, Sarah Haggard 
Bainum, Mary Schultz, Pearl Barnes, 
Ruby Parnes, Eva Barnes, Mary Ellen 
Wisegarver, Edna Hiett, Rebecca and 
Grace Gray, Laura and Gladys Dubson, 
Olive and Clara Anderson, Lois Haggard, 
Doris White, Ethel Dalton, Thelma 
Gilmore, E.E. and Lysta Garver, Faye 
Adams, Geneva McMillen Huisinga, Nelda 
Olson, Myrtle Ferry, Faith Hubbard 
Mintun, Anne Huisinga, Myrtle Griffith, 
Moneta Trovelsoper, and Iva Harlow 
Coffin. 

GOOSE CREEK TOWNSHIP 
GETS A RAILROAD 

It was in 1872 that a promised railroad 
was completed across Goose Creek 
Township from east to west. It extended 
from Champaign to White Heath where it 
connected up with the Monticello Railroad. 
It continued from White Heath to Lodge, 
crossing the Goose Creek Sangamon line 
about the middle, and continued to DeLand 
and on to Weldon, Lane and Clinton and 
eventually to Havana. Actually, it touched 
none of these towns because they were not 

— 19 — 



there but very soon, most of them had been 
founded and were using the railroad. It 
was intended originally to continue on 
across the Mississippi to Iowa but it fell 
short of its intended destination. 

The section of the road through DeLand 
was chartered in 1867 as the Havana, 
MasonCity, Lincoln, and Eastern railway. 
Shortly thereafter, it was consolidated 
with the Monticello railroad and then both 
were transferred to the Indianapolis, 
Bloomington, and Western Road which 
already had a line across the northern part 
of Piatt County. All of these railroads 
suffered financial trouble and a 
foreclosure was held which resulted in the 
line through DeLand becoming known as 
the Champaign, Havana and Western 
Road. But again it was consolidated — this 
time with the Wabash System and 
remained so until 1886 when it was sold to 
the Illinois Central and remains that 
today. 

To help build the railroads, the various 
townships sold bonds to raise the 
necessary money for the ironwork rails, 
ties, etc. In 1866 and 1867, the township 
board sold bonds amounting to $20,000 and 
the first were paid off on the due date along 
with the interest. Those who opposed the 
transaction claimed that the petitions and 
notices were not proper, that the election 
was not conducted properly, that the 
amount of the appropriations was not put 
on the ballot, and that the company made 
undue haste to sell the bonds after they 
were issued. They also wanted the railway 
built within three years. The records show 
that in 1869 the township levied a special 
tax to pay interest on the bonds. On March 
:ird of that year part of the bonds were 
returned marked paid and were burned as 
is the custom From then on, it became 
a struggle to even pay the interest. 

In 1871, Thomas Bondurant, Supervisor, 
applied for an injunction restraining the 
levying of taxes to pay the interest, and 
holders of the bonds were beginning to 
bring suit in the United States Court. On 
May 19, 1875, the county correspondent 
urged the township to pay off the bonds 
and save their credit. 

"Individually," asserted the 
correspondent, "We believe the people of 
Goose Creek Township stands high in 
regard to commercial honor, but collec- 
tively, if they refuse to act about these 
bonds, they would stand very low. There is 
not a county in the state where the credit of 
its individuals is higher than in Piatt 
County and we should be sorry to see it 
marred by such records as is being made 
by one or two of its townships." 

More bonds were voted in 1876 - these, 
to fund the out-standing bonds which had 
become due and could not be paid. The 
township had fought the bonds and now 
because of accrued interest had reached 
$50,000. The debt subsequently rose to 
$54,000. In the late I880's the officials of the 
township began to make a concerted effort 
to pay off the debt. The debt went down a 
little each year, and in 1913, the township 



was at last clear of debt. However in 1915, 
a pleasant event occurred. The township 
received a bill for taxes! The following is 
the account in the newspaper: 

"Last spring a letter from McCoy and 
Co. of Chicago sent to the county clerk at 
Monticello made inquiries as to why the 
tax had not been paid on the railroad bonds 
that had been hanging over Goose Creek 
Township for something like 40 years. The 
letter was referred to Supervisor G.R. 
Trenchard, who at once began to in- 
vestigate. He knew that the final bond 
principal and the interest had been paid in 
1913. He started immediately to get the 
account straightened out. In looking over 
the county treasurer's books, he 
discovered that the township had over- 
paid. After several trips to the county seat 
and to Springfield, and going over the 
books with various authorities, he was 
paid $1075.30 that was due Goose Creek 
township. The state treasurer told Mr. 
Trenchard that there were many similar 
cases and over a million dollars in the 
state treasury that should be returned to 
the townships. Had not the letter of inquiry 
been sent, no one would have ever known 
that the township had over paid! 

The railroad was finally begun. Some of 
the farmers along the desired right of-way 
objected to parting with their land. John 
Cyphers, especially, balked. Mr. Bon- 
durant speedily solved the problem. He 
offered to trade some land just cast of 
what is now his town property to Mr. 
Cyphers for his piece along the proposed 
right of way. Mr. Cyphers accepted the 
offer. Mr. Bondurant then gave the piece 
of land to the railroad and work proceeded. 

Mr. James DeLand, a member of the 
pioneer family named DeLand at White 
Heath, took the contract for building the 
section through Goose Creek Township 
Much of the work was done by local people- 
especially by the nearby larrners. J.E. 
Reed says that his great-great grand- 
father, Amos Reed, was one who helped 
with the building. And so the railroad went 
through and was finished during the late 
summer or early fall of 1872. It proved to 
be a momentous occasion for the town- 
ship's citizens for it gave them an outlet 
for shipping their produce. 

A station was built about the middle of 
the township and was named DeLand 
Station, undoubtedly for James DeLand 
The building of the station probably in- 
fluenced Thomas Bondurant in his choice 
of a site for his town and the eventual 
naming of the village Small towns sprung 
up along the railroad including White 
Heath and Weldon in the fall of 1872 and 
DeLand in the spring of 1873. Lodge, which 
began a half mile south of its present site, 
was moved to the railroad crossing in 1881 , 
and renamed Woods for a railway official. 
But the post office department refused to 
recognize the new name and the town was 
continued to be called Lodge. 

White Heath was named for two pioneer 
families, the Whites and the Heath's and 



Weldon for a railroad official. 

For many, many years, the railroad 
through DeLand ran four passenger trains 
a day. and for a few years six. The early 
morning train arrived from Champaign 
about seven o'clock and returned in the 
evening from Havana about six. The 
midmorning train from Clinton came in 
around 10:30 or 11 and returned from 
Champaign about one. It made con- 
nections with a train from Decatur at 
White Heath (There was noway to turn the 
Decatur train around so it backed up all 
the way to Decatur!) One could go to 
Monticello but not back until the next day. 
It also made connection with the In- 
terurban at White Heath which ran a car 
from Champaign to Decatur about every 
hour. There was a freight train each way 
each day on the line through DeLand and 
these still run but not as regularly as they 
once did. 

Meeting the train in the early days was 
great fun. About 10 or 15 minutes before 
train time, you could see many citizens 
wmding their way toward the depot. There 
they visited with one another, exchanged 
the latest gossip and joked and laughed 
until the train came in They were there to 
greet friends returning, to wave them off 
or simply to see who got on and off! There 
was always a representative of the press 
on hand and the paper always had long 
columns of locals. And most of the young 
people of the town were among the ob- 
servers. It was a good way to get together. 

There were other times when the crowas 
collected at the depot. If one went on a long 
journey, his friends and relatives all 
assembled to wave him off and bid him 
Godspeed During World War 1, the local 
band and most of the citizens sped the 
soldiers on their way. In the summer time, 
there were excursion rates and special 
trains to the Chatauqua at Weldon Springs, 
to the State Fair at Springfield, to 
wherever a circus was playing, and to 
towns where a well known political figure 
was speaking. 

Oftentimes, the agent advertised the 
fact that a special was coming through. 
The writer remembers once when a 
political train came through. Teddy 
Roosevelt, the Bull Moose candidate for 
president was rumored to be on it. 
Practically the entire populace assem- 
bled, hoping that the train would stop or 
that Teddy would at least be on the back 
platform The train, however, whizzed 
through without a sign of slowing, and 
there was no sign of Teddy. Only K\'0 men 
standing on the back platform. What a 
letdown' We never even found out whether 
Teddy was on the train. It is doubtful if he 
was as there was only the one coach. 

This all ended in l'j:iO and licil when the 
ollicials first took off two trains and then 
the other two The automobile had arrived 
and keeping the trains running was not 
profitable. The freight service continued 



20- 



but was limited to large items and the 
express service limited to a few stations. 
For awhile express was brought in by 
truck, but even that is no more. The 
freights carry such things as grain, cobs, 
fertilizer, gravel, lumber and oil. Since 
almost everyone uses gas or oil for 
heating, even coal shipments are few. 
Livestock and some grain is transported 
by truck. If something shipped to you is too 
large for the mails, you pick it up at 
Monticello. 

For awhile after the passenger trains 
were removed, you could travel in the 
caboose of the freight, but you had to be a 
hardy soul to do it. In addition to being a 
very slow way to travel (the freight 
stopped and switched at every siding), the 
road bed was rough, the seats un- 
comfortable (they just couldn't have had 
any springs) and you were pretty well 
shook up by the end of your journey. After 
awhile, that service was dispensed with. 

The original depot stood on the west side 
of Main street. It was moved about 1903 to 
the east side where the present one stands. 
This must have been about the time the 
I (' Local was wrecked east of DeLand by 
spreading rails. One box car and the 
caboose were thrown off the track and ties 
and rails torn up. The few passengers were 
not injured and rode mto DeLand on the 
engine. The superintendent of bridges and 
buildings came out from Clinton on the 
wrecker. He looked the depot over, since 
there had been requests for a new depot or 
at least some improvements. To quote 
him 

■'11 some of the high officials would 
happen to get stranded here and were 
forced to wait lor hours in the little old dry 
goods box that serves as a depot, they 
would come to the realization that a new 
depot is badly needed here" 

Someone suggested that it would be a 
good place for some of the railroad's 
surplus money' However, it took a fire to 
get a new depot although some repairs and 
improvements were forthcoming. The 
building burned when the lumberyard 
burned. Between that time and the 
building of the second building, a box car 
was set up on the west side of the street 
and fitted up as a depot. 

Agents at the depot came and went. 
Luther Cox was there for a long time. But 
the man who stayed the longest was J.M. 
Pitts, who worked fror the Illinois Central 
for 50 years and spent 25 of it in DeLand. 
He was born in 1871 at Gifford, Illinois, 
studying telegraphy at Richview and Villa 
(irove. His first appointment was April 1. 
188-1 at Laurette. He also served at Buffalo 
and Chestnut for three years. Gifford 11 
\ears. and Mt Pulaski from June to Oc- 
tober 1912 uhen he came to DeLand. In 
1944 he ended fifty years of service and 
received a gold pass from the Illinois 
Central He had two children Ray, who 
works lor the I (' and Helen, who married 
Will Cathcart. Both of the latter are dead. 
Mr. Pitts was interested in the community 



while here. He served on the official board 
;ind was treasurer at the Christian church 
Ills garden was his hobby. 

A lew of the other agents included ,1.11 
Lane. IIVV. Ward. Frank Timmons, 
Watrous. Kuth Detiir. and Harris. 

At one time there were coal bins along 
the tracks and a stock yard at the east end. 
Nearly all the coal bins have been torn 
down because little coal is now used here. 
There are still one or two dilapidated ones 
at the west end. The bins were originally 
built of wood. Later some of them were 
replaced with concrete. The stock yards 
were sold in 19:«) because of lack of use as 
stock is shipped entirely now by truck. 
Elmer West bought them for the lumber. 

There have been several accidents at the 
railroad crossings but none serious so far 
as life and limb were concerned but one. 
And that was not an auto accident. In 1898 
LewellynNotter of Covington. Indiana was 
mn over near Ulinois Avenue crossing. He 
had walked here from Lodge and then 
tried to board a bo.x car and fell beneath 
the wheels. The trucks passed over his legs 
just above the ankle and his legs had to be 
amputated. He died a few hours later. 
Reverend Brittin saw the accident from 
the parsonage window and summoned 
help iThe Methodist Parsonage was then 
the house in which Ronald Fisher now 



lives). Mr. Notter had an lOOF mem- 
bership card from Gallipolis, Ohio in his 
pocket, and the Del.and Lodge did what 
they could lor him 

On two occasions there was tiilk of 
another railroad In May of lilOii. plans 
were materializing rapidly for the 
P 1) &M. iPontiac. DeLand. and Mattoom 
railway. Subscriptions for stock were 
being solicited and everyone was en- 
thusiastic. This electric railway was not to 
run parallel to another railroad as electric 
lines usually did. Kach up-to-date farmer 
could have a spur from the main line to his 
farm where he could load his grain at once 
and have it carried to the elevator cheaper 
than by trading work with his neighbor and 
having to run into bad weather. Hon. J.N. 
Rodman and J.B. Rinehart were 
representing DeLand. 

A writer to the Tribune talked up the 
idea of co-operation in the town and 
suggested that more of the business men 
be induced to join in the movement for the 
new railroad. Even if the railroad fell 
through, there would be other things they 
could do for the town. The railroad fell 
through. 

At another time, it was thought possible 
to get an extension of the Illinois Traction 
Svstem from White Heath through 
DeLand. hut that, too, failed to 



materialize. 

For (juite a long while there was a bus 
line through DeLand. First it came down 
into the village Then it stopped only at the 
top of the hill The patronage was very 
poor By this time, most people had cars 
and they used them Instead of the bus. It 
was llnally given up and DeLand has since 
been without public transportation. Which 
is bad for a few people. 

Two other interesting items from the 
newspaper; 

"1!»14 — The I.e. ignored the recent 
village ordinance which forbade shipment 
of liquor into the town. The I.C. declared 
the ordinance illegal. (Up to the repeal of 
the 18th amendment, DeLand never had a 
saloon The town as a whole was against 
any liquor being brought in.) 

"April 12, 190() - Farmers living bet- 
ween DeLand and Weldon sent a petition 
with 200 names to the Illinois Central 
asking the company to put in a switch 
between the two towns where an elevator 
could be built like the one at Combes' 
Switch. It was considered for a while and 
the owner of the Moore land would have 
made the land available, but for some 
reason, the project did not materialize. 





'""ri-. ' .'i 



n\»Sfi 



H-;^'-HT'i'**''*P^^ 





Threshing Party Gang — Taken at Home of James Moody (Now home of Wendell McBride). 

-21 — 






LITTLE TOWNS 



Though I've hved in many places, It always seemed to me 
That little towns are special, The nicest place to be. 
I like the lawns and gardens, the wide expanse of sky, 
Much better than the city streets, Where buildings tower high. 

The little towns are friendly When one is passing through. 
They always look so pleasant And quite contented, too. 
The homes are unpretentious. Just homey. Cozy places 
Where people are good neighbors with dear familiar faces. 

One is known by dogs and children wherever they may walk, 
And neighbors come for coffee And a little kitchen talk. 

People sitting on their porches Will wave a hand and smile, 
And one is more than welcome to join them for awhile. 

Folks get to know each other, Calling most of them by name; 

And in the stores and churches. It also is the same. 

The shopping's never boring ! Instead it is a treat, 

A chance for friendly chatter With others one may meet. 

At night the lighted windows Produce a friendly glow. 
And often sounds of music Still follow where you go. 
The homes are kept up nicely. Revealing family pride. 
It's nice to see them working. Together there outside. 

The streets are nicely shaded ; You never seek in vain ; 
The most important thoroughfare Is nearly always "Main' 
Of course there's less excitement But also little crime. 
Cities are many people's choice but a little town is mine. 



Used by permission of author 
Harriet Whipple in Neighborly Ideals. 



— 22 — 



BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN 

It was at the location of the DeLand 
Station, designated so by the railroad, that 
Thomas E. Bondurant decided to plant his 
little village that would be a center for the 
shipment of grain the center needed so 
badly by the farmers. "Tom's Town" the 
neighbors called it. and indeed it was 
Tom's Town, for as long as he lived, the 
village and its welfare was dear to his 
heart. 




T.K. Konduranl — founder of DeLand. 



(Thomas Bondurant had arrived here 
with others of his family in 1854. He soon 
thereafter secured 293 acres of land in the 
north-central half of the township, paying 
the government fifty cents an acre. He 
immediately put out an orchard near 
which he built a house for the family. This 
house stood north and a little east of what 
is now the village. The lane to it was 
directly opposite what we now call Main 
Street. His land was partially covered with 
water each year and he drained it with a 
mole-type contraption mentioned before. 
Mr. Bondurant was honest and industrious 
and a shrewd business man. He added to 
his holdings from time to time and became 
one of the wealthiest men in central 
Illinois. He was the first president of the 
First National Bank of DeLand which was 
established in 1900. He was a very 
generous man, giving freely to the chur- 
ches as well as taking an active interest in 
their work. He took an interest in neigh- 
boring churches, as well as the Eureka 
college which was affiliated with the 
Christian churches. He served as super- 
visor of Goose Creek Township for seven 
years. He built a beautiful home at the 
edge of DeLand for his family which at 
that time consisted of his mother, his sister 
Mary, and his niece Lucy Thornton who 
was his secretary. This was in 1882. He 
died there in 1905. 




Miss Mary Bondurant — sister of Thomas, 
(iave DeLand the Park and the lots for the 
library. 

Mary Bondurant continued to live in the 
home after her brother's death as did Lucy 
Thornton, who had become Mrs. George 
Trenchard. Both women as well as Mr. 
Trenchard, were active in the community. 
Miss Bondurant was active in the 
Woman's Club being a Charter member. 
She gave to the village the site for the park 
and had most of the work done in the 
building of it. She also gave the township 
the site for the Carnegie Library and was 
on the Noard of Trustees for quite some 
time. She and Mrs. Trenchard both died in 
192L 




.Mrs. (Jeorge Trenchard 
Thomas Bondurant. 



niece of 



standing work in that club was about 1909 
or 1910 when she was president. She did a 
lot of the planning and writing to the 
Carnegie Foundation which resulted in 
DeLand getting the Carnegie Library- 
DeLand's pride and joy. She was also 
active in the church and in the gold and 
silver medal contests in the WCTU. Mrs. 
W. W. Welch, who was one of the winners 
of a silver medal when she was a girl, gave 
Mrs. Trenchard credit for coaching her to 
the point of success. Miss Molly, as she 
was affectionately known by her friends, 
and Mrs. Trenchard were both gracious 
ladies. Their home was the scene of many 
lovely receptions which were always 
enjoyed by those present. 




Mrs. Trenchard was also a Charter 
member of the Woman's Club. Her out- 

— 23 — 



(ieorge Trenchard 

George R. Trenchard, was president and 
cashier of the First National Bank for a 
long time. He was also interested in church 
activities, other activities of the village, 
especially so during World War I when 
there were bonds to be sold and money 
raised for Red Cross and other war efforts. 
He served two terms as Goose Creek 
township supervisor. He owned a farm and 
farmed before becoming a banker. He was 
also active in the real estate business. 

Mr. Trenchard was a native son of Goose 
Creek Township, being born southeast of 
DeLand in 18(57 - two years after his 
parents the W.O. Trenchards came to 
Goose Crook Township. 

Two of the sidelights of Thomas Bon- 
durant's interest in his village were simple 
things but of value to the community. He 
planted maple trees all up and down the 
boulevards and they created shade and 
beauty for the town for many years. There 
are still some old maples in town that may 
have been among those he planted, though 
most of them are replacements. The 
streets of DeLand in the early days 
sometimes became a sea of mud during a 
long rainy period. At such times, it was 
very difficult for people who came to town 




Old Bondiirant home with some of the 
This home has since burned. 

to shop, to load their groceries and other 
purchases into their buggies without 
getting mired down. Mr. Bondurant had 
several carloads of limestone slabs 
shipped into town which he had laid along 
the edges of the sidewalks, thus giving 
solid ground on which to load and unload. 
Later, some of these slabs were used for 
curbing. It has been less than ten years 
since sidewalks were replaced on the south 
side of the Odd Fellow building (the old 
State Bank ) , the east side of the same bank 
and in front of Rigg's store, and the North 
side of what is now the Post Office, and the 
limestone curbing was taken up then. 

Mr. Bondurant was a, jolly man. He 
could take and enjoy a joke even if it was 
directed toward him. Once someone 
placed a doll on the community Christmas 
tree for him. The account said that "it 
pleased friend Tom very well." Mr. 
Bondurant was a bachelor and when he 
built the house in town he came in for 
considerable ribbing. To quote the article 
in the county paper: 

"T.E. Bondurant is in Chicago buying 
furniture and carpets for his new 
residence. He has been gone for so long 
that some of the boys began to fear he had 
been allured from the paths of rectitude 
but remembered he couldn't naturally be 
expected to know all the wants of a 
household as quickly as a happy benedict 
so agreed he should have plenty of time." 

Wendell Trenchard is a great nephew of 
Thomas Bondurant and lives at Bondurant 
place, the estate Mr. Bondurant 
established across from the Christian 
Church. The stately old house Mr. Bon- 
durant build in 1883 burned in January of 
192.3 and a modern building replaced it. 
The latter was build by G. R. Trenchard 
and it is as stately and even more lovely 



early DeLand automobiles in yard. 



than the old home. Wendell married Helen 
Jones of Monticello — daughter of Roy 
Jones who was supervisor of Monticello 
Township for so many, many years — 
living well into his nineties. The Tren- 
chards have one daughter, Mrs. Joanne 
French of Peoria. The French family 
consists of three sons. 




Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Trenchard — 
present owners of Kondurant Place. 

Wendell's sister, Mary, married Ray 
Timmons of Lodge. They live in Butler, 
Pennsylvania but have a country place 
southeast of DeLand. (The old Hank 

— 24 — 




I'resent Irenchard home — Bondurant 
place — residence of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell 
Trenchard. 



McMillen place.) They have a daughter 
and a son. The son, George Timmons, lives 
east of DeLand with his wife Sue and three 
small youngsters. George farms with his 
uncle the Trenchard-Timmons farms. 

Wendell supervises the farming on his 
farms and takes an active part in the 
community. He helped organize the 
DeLand State Bank in 1945, serving as its 
president until 1969, was President of the 
Farmer's Elevator for 20 years, served on 
the Carnegie Library Board for many 
years and was president of it when he 
retired in 1970, and has been active in both 
the Illinois and American Banker's 
Association. He was also president of 
DeLand's Village board at one time. 

The Trenchard's have always been 
interested in such things as the Red Cross 
and Cancer Research. Mr. Trenchard has 
for years acted as Red Cross chairman in 
Goose Creek township and Mrs. Trenchard 
conducts the Cancer Drive each year, and 
is a director of the Third District of the 
American Cancer Society Illinois Division. 
She has been an active member of the 
DeLand Woman's club since she came 
here as a bride in 1926. 



I 






The Park when it was new. 






The park now — showing plaque. 



THE SURVEYING IS DONE 

The 23rd and 25th days of April and the 
20th and 21st days of May in 1873 were 
momentous days for Goose Creek 
Township and its citizens. On those days 
the surveyors entered the area and began 
laying out the village of DeLand. The 
surveyor's certificate at the Piatt County 
Court House in Monticello reads: 

SURVEYED FOR THOMAS E. BON- 
DURANT BY CD. MOORE, COUNTY 
SURVEYOR, PIATT COUNTY, ILL. 



THE VILLAGE OF DELAND 

On the 23rd and 25th days of April and 
the 20th and 21st days of May, A.D. 1873. 
Said town situated on the N.W. Quarter of 
Sec. 9, Twp. 19, Range 5 E. of the 3rd 
principal meridian. A stone planted at the 
s.w. corner of block no. 10 is 662 feet east 
and 222.6 feet north of a stone planted at 
the S.W. corner of the SW'j of Sec. 9 
aforesaid. The figures on said plat in- 
dicating distances represent feet and 
tenths. For future reference and surveys, I 
caused stones to be planted in the following 
points to-wit: The n.w. corner of block 5; 
the n.e. corner of blocks 6 and 8; the s.w. 
corner of block 13; and the s.e. corners of 
blocks 14 and 16. The positions of said 
stones are indicated on the accompanying 
plat by ring thru 0. 

Given under my hand this 21st day of 
May AD. 1873. Authorized by Thomas E. 
Bondurant. 

( The above and a plat of the village is 
given in book of Deeds No. 4). 

The original village was all north of the 
railroad. The land upon which it was built 
was not a part of Bondurant's original 293 
acres. It was purchased from the original 
owner, Ezra Marquiss by Mr. Bondurant. 

When the surveyors were finished, the 
plat had been divided into 16 full block (4 
each way) each 40 by 120 feet. There were 
4 half blocks along the railroad which 
faced an east-west street instead of a north 
south street as the 16 did. The east west 
streets were numbered beginning with 
Railroad Avenue or 1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th 
between the railroad and the creek. The 
five north-south streets were Western; 
Dlinois; Highway Avenue (Main V.Indiana; 
and Eastern. The streets remain the same 
today except that with additions to the 
town the avenues have been extended and 
south 1st, 2nd and 3rd have been added. 

While the north-south streets are named 
the same on the Hill to the north of the 
Creek, there is also a one block street 
between Maddens and the Jeffrey's that is 
called Lowell Avenue, and the east-west 
street on which most of the houses front is 
called 6th street. Recently, through the 
efforts of the Senior Woman's Club under 
the direction of Mrs. Carter Wisegarver 
and Mrs. Charles Trigg, and other in- 
terested citizens, a permanent street signs 



have been erected throughout the village. 

As time went on, several additions were 
platted. The first block south of the 
railroad each have twelve lots as other 
additions do, but it is not laid out in blocks 
for description purposes. There are no 
alleys in those three blocks and the land is 
described as lots 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., in the N.W. 
4 of the S.W. 2 of Section 9, twp. 19 n.e. x 5 
E., etc. 1 know of no explanation for this 
difference. 

The land east of Highway Avenue is in 
the Dewees addition and the four blocks 
south of the lands above mentioned are in 
the Marquiss addition. North of the Creek 
are the 1st and 2nd Bondurant additions. 
The land that goes about halfway out East 
3rd street is in the village also. 

At one time, there was considerable 
farm land in the village on the east, west 
and north sides of town but in 1934 they 
were petitioned out by farmers who felt 
being in the village added too much to their 
tax bill. For awhile their loss was felt 
deeply as it made much less revenue for 
the town (and still is felt!) This was 
especially true during the depression 
years. For about a week the lights were 
even turned off but they finally got around 
by lowering the number of lights. 

TOMS TOWN IS OFFICIALLY 
NAMED DELAND 

With the filing of the Surveyor's Cer- 
tificate, Tom's Town officially became 
DeLand. The origin of the name DeLand 
and how the village got it is more or less a 
mystery and probably always will be. The 
UeLand family of White Heath, pioneer 
family of Sangamon township, firmly 
believes that it was named for their uncle, 
James DeLand, who put in the railroad. 
And their claim is plausible in-as-much as 
many villages were named for railroad 
men. 

The Trenchard family of DeLand just as 
firmly believes that the town was named 
by Bondurant for French DeLand, a young 
surveyor friend of Clinton. Mr. Bondurant 
told Mr. G.R. Trenchard who passed it on 
to Mrs. Murphy of the Tribune, that he 
named the village for French DeLand. Mr. 
French DeLand is said to have laid out the 
town, but he could have done so under the 
county surveyor and the latter's name 
would still be on the certificate. French 
DeLand was a distant relative of the White 
Heath DeLands according to Earl DeLand 
with whom I once talked. DeLand's sister 
was Mrs. Reber Huston of this township 
and the paper noted his visiting here from 
time to time. Wenddell says that Mr. 
Bondurant paid Mr. DeLand $1,000 for the 
privilege of naming the town DeLand. 

I believe that what may have happened 
is this: The railroad, when the tracks were 
finished put in a siding and a depot and 
named it for James DeLand. There is little 
doubt that the station-called DeLand 
Station, was put in in 1872 before the town 



25 



of DeLand was laid out. Items in the paper 
indicate this and the town of White Heath, 
founded in the fall of 1872 was at first 
scheduled to be named DeLand for their 
first peioneer family but was named for 
the Whites and the Heath's because the 
name DeLand had already been used. 

It was suggested that the town be named 
Bondurant, but Mr. Bondurant turned that 
suggestion down. It is probable, that 
having his friend French DeLand in mind, 
he decided to go along with the railroad 
and call the village DeLand for French-not 
James. This is only theory, but it is the 
most plausible explanation that I can think 
of! 

DO YOU PRONOUNCE 

DELAND CORRECTLY? 

AND HOW DO YOU SPELL IT? 

The spelling of the name of the town is 
DeLand not Deland. It should have been 
that from the beginning since all of the 
DeLand families spell their name with a 
capital "L". However, in the early days 
people wrote the word with a small 1. As 
time went on considerable confusion 
arose. There was a little town in the area 
close to Bellf lower by the name of DeLana. 
Since Americans are notoriously poor 
writers, it was inevitable that some would 
make the stem of the final "d" in DeLand a 
little too short which would make it look 
like Delana. Or they'd make the final "a" 
in DeLana with a short stem protruding 
making Delana look like Deland. Thus the 
mail was always getting sent to the wrong 
place and since both villages were on a 
branch of the Illinois Central, the same 
thing happened to the express and freight. 
The Monticello postmaster tried to help by 
adding Piatt County to the addresses of 
DeLand mail but to no avail. Finally the 
post office department in Washington took 
a hand. In 1901, it declared that from that 
time on the post office here should be 
spelled with a capital "L". But habits are 
hard to break. People continued to spell 
DeLand with a small "1" so Delana settled 
the matter by changing its name to 
Glenavon' And many still write it Deland. 
The DeLand family pronounce their 
name with the accent on the second 
syllable. Which is the way it should be. The 
accent should never be on the first. 



INCORPORATION 

The village was incorporated in 1899. The 
question had been warmly debated for 
several years. Up to the time the idea of 
incorporation struck, things had been done 
about town with mutual co-operation and 
good will and there were many folks who 
wanted it kept that way. In March 1896, 
this item appeared in the county paper: 
"The question of incorporating our town 
is agitating our people, a petition with the 
required number of signatures to call an 
election having been filed. It is time for the 
voters to seriously consider the matter and 



to be sure that we can see the substantial 
advantage to be obtained before voting for 
it. If we can not see this, we should con- 
sider the possibilities of surrounding 
ourselves with conditions that will bring 
about moral degradation, financial loss 
and a reproach upon our community." 

An election was scheduled for April. If it 
was held, it failed, for in April of 1897 this 
item appeared. 

"Incorporation is again agitating our 
little village, and like a boy after his first 
pair of boots, it thinks it only needs in- 
corporation to make a populous city, but 
vain imagination. It will find this only 
paves the way to populated streets and 
gutters." 

There was no doubt about which side the 
correspondent was on. He never did 
comment on the advantages to be gained. 
Things seemed to be rather quiet from the 
above date until late in 1899 when a vote 
was again held and won by a majority of 
16. The county judge was asked to call an 
election for village officers. This was done 
and two tickets were on the ballot —- 
Republican and Citizen. Seymour 
Marquiss ran for president on both tickets. 
(Perhaps no one else was brave enough to 
tackle the job!) S.A. Goodman and L.C. 
Cox ran for clerk; J.B. Garver and J.H. 
Rankin for treasurer. The candidates for 
the six trustees were: Republican H.W. 
Gantz, H.G. Porter, J.E. Bickel, David 
McBride, C.A. Smith, and L.W. Reid. 

Citizens: John Dresback, Wm. T. 
Keighin, Henry Gessford, Samuel Red- 
dick, George W. Gordon, and John Vail. 

No follow up was given on the elction but 
I know that Marquiss was elected 
president and Goodman for Clerk. 

And the activities of the board were not 
chronicled in the county paper. I do know 
that they immediately passed laws and 
compiled an ordinance book. 

The first mention of a board meeting 
was in the Tribune of May 16, 1902. At this 
meeting John Mansfield was appointed 
street commissioner; J.H. French, 
treasurer; and committees on streets and 
alleys, sidewalks, public buildings, or- 
dinances, finance and health were ap- 
pointed. The president recommended that 
the streets be kept well scraped until June 
I5th; crossings built where needed and 
kept tidy during the year ; weeds kept cut 
out of the streets. He named several 
sidewalks that needed to be built, men- 
tioned the need for more hitchracks, and 
that our streets should be well lighted at 
the least possible expense, and that 
statuatory laws should be enforced. 
Quoting: 

"And as I am made to understand that 
the organization of the village of DeLand 
was brought about for the purpose of 
building up the village in growth and 
prosperity, in morals, in business and 
energy, and in fact everything good and 
nothing bad, to these ends I shall, as your 
President bend all my best energies ac- 
cording to my best judgment and 1 do 
sincerely recommend that you as mem- 



bers of the board do join me in all this." 

This sounds as if a new President of the 
Board might have been elected. It is too 
bad that his name was not mentioned in 
the paper. He sounds like a good one! 
I do not have a complete list of 
Presidents. My list includes J.E. Bickel, 
W. H. Hardin, Dr. G.S. Walker, W.B. 
Trenchard, Howard Dresback, and Ellis 
Leischner. The present president is Paul 
Manning. Some of these were in the office 
for several terms. Mr. Bickel and Dr. 
Walker were probably in office longest. - 
Presidents also were C.E. Carrier , J.N. 
Rodman, and J.B. Rinehart. 

THE ORDINANCE BOOK 

THE NEW ordinance book was used 
until 1907 when it was revised by Squire 
Pfeffer, a Monticello lawyer and 
published. There was a copy of the first 
one at the Library but it has disappeared. 
The town board has a copy of the second 
and it is in force today except for a few 
laws that have been repealed. The second 
book is called "The Municipal Code of the 
Village of DeLand." 

According to the State Law, the code had 
to be read section by section, and each 
section voted upon separately by the 
Board. The entire Code, before being 
printed, had to be copied in long hand in a 
suitable book provided for the purpose. 
The person copying it was to be paid so 
much per 100 words. Jim Souders, clerk of 
the Board at the time, turned the job over 
to his daughter Gladys (Now Mrs. Henry 
Remmers). This is the last ordinance book 
compiled and printed because it is a very 
expensive process. Many Ordinances have 
been passed and published in the Tribune 
since that time. Publishing an Ordinance 
is mandatory. 

The Ordinance book stated the boun- 
daries of the village (long since changed), 
gave the election rules, the duties of of- 
ficers, several of which has been dispensed 
with including the village attorney 
because he was seldom needed and the 
retainer he had to be paid was too ex- 
pensive, qualifications for the different 
jobs, and other rules for conducting 
proceedings. 

Some of the Ordinances covered the 
following: Limited new buildings in the 
business district to brick or concrete; the 
board of health and its dealings with 
vaccinations, quarantines, burials, and 
slaughter houses; Auctioneers; Shows; 
billiards; peddlers; house movers; and ice 
wagons. All of these had to have licenses. 
Pool rooms were to be closed on Sundays 
and from 11 :30 to 5 A.M. on weekdays and 
no one under 16 was allowed to enter. 
Listed as nuisances were stables, pigpens, 
manure piles, privies, dead animals, 
slaughter houses, barbed wire and hedge 
fences. All these had to be kept in a 
manner not to foul or offend anyone. 

Every able bodied man was to work two 

— 26 — 



days a year on the streets unless they were 
paupers, idots or lunatics. 

Mention of the calaboose occurred oc- 
casionally. This was a building built for a 
creamery that stood just south of the 
creek. After the creamery failed, it was 
sold to the village who used it for village 
board meetings, to store records and as a 
jail. Tramps were also guests occasionally 
and were sometimes given overnight 
lodging. It finally was town down. The 
village board now meets in the firehouse 
and records are kept there in a safe. 

There was a long list of misdemeanors in 
the 1907 Ordinance book in fact, some 
fifty-nine sections were devoted to such 
misdemeanors as riding animals on 
boulevards and lawns; stopping animals 
or vehicles across sidewalks obstructing 
passage; firing guns or firecrackers (the 
latter were excepted on the Fourth of 
July ) ; climbing street lamps, telephone or 
light poles; and disturbing the peace. 
There were many ways of doing the last 
named. 

Over the seventy-three years of in- 
corporation such topics as fire protection, 
street lights, water, telephones, gas, 
pavements, oil for streets, sidewalks, 
clean-up campaigns, the park, enforcing 
the laws, and financing it all have come up 
and been some of the problems the Village 
Board has had to face and solve. 
Sometimes the road to success has been a 
long and arduous task (for example the 
need for water), and sometimes it has 
been in vain. But at least we have not 
ended up as one citizen feared. One 
Thomas Kicker bemoaned incorporation 
and the idea of bringing more railroads or 
factories into town. He painted a dire 
picture of tall brick buildings, graveled 
roads, cement sidewalks, electric lights, 
stand-pipe waterworks and finished his 
criticism thus: 

"Soon the town will ring with such 
clatter that dozing the happy hours away 
in a chair in front of Bill Haggard's store 
will be out of the question." 

The fears of those who opposed in- 
corporation have certainly not been vin- 
dicated! 

The present Village board consists of 
Paul Manning, president; Lyle Barr, 
clerk; Richard Loney, Cecil Clemens, Carl 
Ray Norton, B.W. Swanstrom, Louis 
Kallembach, Jr., and Loran Vaughn, 
trustees. - 

Ml- 




PROBLEMS THE BOARD SOLVED 
FOR OUR WELFARE 

Streets and Alleys 

The streets of DeLand were plain dirt 
roads to begin with and they were made up 
of mud in the winter and ruts when frozen 
and inches of dust in the summer. The dust 
was especially bad in those years we had 
droughts. You'd be surprised at the 
amount of dust from a dry street that 
rolled in from one horse and buggy when 
there had been no rain for some time. And 
getting mired in a mud hole in rainy 
weather was an easy thing to happen and it 
took some doing to get out. 




Highway Avenue with muddy streets as 
seen from Railroad Ave. looking north. 




IVIuddy Railroad Avenue looking east from 
Illinois Ave. Shows house across from 
lumber yard, shop that is now a part of the 
Cob office, and hitchracks. 



About 1915 the idea of oiling the streets 
took hold. Other towns had tried oil and 
reported it most efficient. So DeLand tried 
it and found it a solution. Of course the 
roads did break up after the freezing and 
thawing of winter, but outside of that, they 
were wonderful. Oiling roads continued 
until about 1938 when they began to add 
gravel or crushed rock to the oil to keep it 
off the cars and off shoes. It was heck to 
get off! The past few years, DeLand has 
used the oil and crushed rock every two 
years and it makes the streets stay in good 
and passable condition the year round. 

The Main Street of DeLand-Highway 
Avenue was paved in 1926. When the brick 
pavements at each end of this street were 
put in earlier, many people felt that the 
roads should be connected by a pavement 
through the town. On June 6, 1919, the 



village board voted to put in two 
pavements through the town. One from 
Fifth street to the top of the hill and east on 
an unnamed street (now route 10) to 
Luther Conner's residence (now Longs). 
The gap between this and the brick 
pavement running north was to be paid for 
by public subscription. The second stretch 
was to be run from the south corporate 
limits of the town through the residence 
and business section to Fifth street. This 
put pavement the whole length of Highway 
avenue and why they made two pavements 
I do not know. The width was to be wider 
through the business district, ten feet wide 
the rest of the way. The bridge was to be 
lowered about a foot. 

The meeting had gone well to this point 
when they began to consider materials. 
Then they struck a snag. Concrete finally 
won over brick. Some considered concrete 
second grade material. It was com- 
paratively new and hadn't yet proved its 
qualities. And some had been advised that 
brick was better. It was quite a meeting 
from thereon. To quote: 

"The regular session of the board was 
somewhat lengthened (June 6, 1919) on 
account of it being necessary for the clerk 
to read the two long paving ordinances, 
and while the clerk read the detailed plans 
and specifications, time passed slowly. 
But when the time came to pass the or- 
dinances there was plenty of fun, 
speeches, talks and arguments and heated 
discussions. The vote resulted in a tie on 
both strips of paving and President 
Rodman cast the deciding vote in each 
case and each time voted for concrete. 

"Trustees Rinehart, Dresback and 
Porterfield voted for the ordinances each 
time while Walker, Jones and Hursh voted 
against them. There seemed to be no 
dissension on the part of the board 
members over the paving except the 
matter of the kind of pavement. The brick 
paving men were as determined as the 
concrete men and although there was 
plenty of lobbying, there could be seen no 
change in the attitude of the members and 
they voted the way they argued. For 
awhile it looked like the passage of the 
ordinances would be delayed while part of 
them went to see some concrete roads 
which had been down for a number of 
years, but no date could be arranged so the 
voting went on." 

What happened to this road, no one 
seems to remember. Possibly it turned out 
to be too expensive, or it may have been 
turned down by the voters, but DeLand 
wallowed in mud and dust for another six 
years before paving the Main street again 
became the question of the day. Oil did not 
seem to suffice in the business district! 

In 1925, the state decided to aid the 
village in paving the Main street through 
the county road system. The county would 
put in the pavement through town to the 
width of nine feet. If any more width was 

— 27 — 



desired, the village and the citizens along 
the street would have to foot the bill. It was 
decided by the village board that the 
pavement would be built 18 feet wide from 
the brick pavement at the south for two 
blocks, each homeowner to pay for the 
strip A'- feet wide in front of his property. 
From what is now W.G. Trigg's property 
north to the corner of 4th street, the street 
was to be 30 feet wide and across the creek 
it was to go back to 18 feet. 

The contract for the nine foot section 
through town was let by the County 
Supervisors to a Fremont firm, the cost to 
be $13,401.38 and the county was to furnish 
the cement. The contract for changing the 
course of Goose Creek at the bridge north 
of the business section and the 
straightening of the bend in the road there, 
was let to a contractor named Little from 
Sullivan. It was estimated that 600 cubic 
yard of dirt would have to be moved in 
making the new channel and filling up the 
old. The work cost 45 cents a cubic yard. 
The bridge was lowered two feet. 

There were many objectors to the 
widening of the pavement beyond the nine 
feet being put in with state aid. There were 
also some wage disputes by the workers at 
the cars on the railroad. They wanted 40 
cents an hour instead of 35 cents. But in 
spite of all this the 820 feet of 18 foot 
pavement and 5505 feet of nine foot was 
finished by July 24, 1925. Lack of water and 
material shortages and weather combined 
to delay them. The grading was to be 
finished and turned over to the state the 
first of August. The northern section to the 
brick road was opened to farmers who 
were threshing and hauling grain. The 
contractor left the mixer and some other 
equipment here on the chance that the 
village would be ready by fall to let con- 
tracts for additional pavement, but when 
they did let the contract for widening the 
pavement about a month later, the con- 
tract went to a Sullivan firm. The ad- 
ditional pavement was finished during the 
summer of 1926. Also the three business 
district blocks north of the railroad were 
widened a little more than that on the 
block south of the railroad. For awhile the 
paving caused great inconvenience. They 
had to build bridges across some of the 
crossings so that grain could be hauled to 
the two elevators. 

Most of the streets were laid out in the 
original town when the village was sur- 
veyed. Illinois avenue just south of the 
railroad had been opened up but was 
closed by John Mansfield. In 1905, the 
village opened it up again, paying Mr. 
Mansfield, Mrs. Goodman, and D.B. 
Troxel each $30 and Ellis Reed and W.H. 
Chapin who had two lots each $60. The 
Methodist Parsonage (Now Ronald 
Fisher's house) donated their right of way. 
There was no street to the cemetery until 
1903 when Illinois was extended from 4th 
street north and a footbridge put in so that 
the "People could walk dry shod to their 
cemetery." A wagon bridge also was 



necessary. 

The alleys in DeLand have seldom been 
an eyesore as so many alleys in larger 
towns are. Nearly everyone uses the 
mower on his alley when he mows his yard 
and some of them have looked like a lawn. 
True, there have always been trash cans in 
them but they did not detract too much. 
They have suffered, however, from the big 
garbage trucks that now haul away the 
trash and are harder to keep looking nice, 
because the trucks make ruts. Lots of folks 
have rebelled but there seems to be no 
answer to the problem. 

Sidewalks 

When the village was first laid out, of 
course there were no sidewalks, and since 
there was no governing body and no 
provision for a government, the villagers 
waded the mud in rainy weather and wore 
paths in dry weather. Ashes were excellent 
to fill up mud holes and cinders were 
shipped in and put on the main pathways. 
In May of 1876, it was reported that: 

"J.B. Gordan, our street commissioner, 
(evidently they had set up some form of 
government by then), has improved the 
looks of our town by laying down 
something near half a mile of sidewalk." 
How Mr. Gordan got this job or what kind 
of material was laid down is not known. 

Evidently there were already some 
wooden sidewalks as Mrs. Scott Rodman 
fell through one and sprained her ankle. 
These sidewalks were made of stringers of 
two inch lumber, probably two by fours, 
with boards laid crosswise on them. The 
latter were also two inch boards and could 
not be less than six inches wide. Most of 
the sidewalks up town were made this 
way. Down by the block that became the 
park, the sidewalk was built high enough 
above the ground that a small child could 
crawl under it. I remember that some of 
the children would hide under it and jump 
out at others to make them scream! 

In November of 1889, a number of new 
sidewalks were put in "much to the 
comfort of pedestrians." 

In 1890, it was reported that brick 
sidewalks were laid in front of the 
properties of Dr. Davis, S. Marquiss, H.H. 
Highfill, and G.L. Brown and from the 
corner of Main St. to the Wigwam. The 
sidewalk to the Wigwam was paid for by 
the ladies who gave a dinner and an oyster 
supper to finance it. They cleared $40. Mr. 
Marquiss supervised the job of putting it 
down. It was suggested that a brick walk 
from uptown to the depot was desirable. 

In 1892, the reporter criticized the 
sidewalk in front of Samuel Riddicks, 
saying that it was "getting positively in 
need of repairs. We wonder where the man 
is who looks after those things?" 

By the 1900's concrete sidewalks were 
beginning to be considered. Ordinance No. 
20 provided that property owners should 
pay the expense of laying and repairing 
sidewalks adjacent to their property 



unless he elected to build one of concrete, 
in which case the village would help by 
paying for the cement and the labor of 
putting it down. 

On Nov. 2, 1902 the reporter suggested 
that the sidewalk removed during the fire 
at Mrs. McBride's should be replaced. 
Evidently it was wood and they had picked 
the sections up and moved them to save 
them. So, though many concrete sidewalks 
were put in during the next few years, 
there were still many of brick and wood, 
(Including those in the business district) 
that were gradualUy replaced by concrete. 
Some of the earlier concrete sidewalks 
were put in by W.S. Elder, but after 1911, 
most of them were laid by A.N. Kerns who 
was a building contractor. He built the 
walk to the cemetery and put in the bridge 
and the town board was so pleased with his 
work that they promptly gave him a 
contract for putting in over 1000 ft. of 
sidewalk in various parts of the village. 
Sometimes the village had trouble 
getting the people to put in sidewalks. In 
May 1893, this item appeared: 

"The new sidewalk extending out to the 
eastern limits of town is completed except 
across one half block. The parties owning 
the half block say they do not need a 
sidewalk. Come now friends, think the 
matter over, change your minds, and 
conclude that it is a necessity and a good 
thing and take that ugly gap from the new 
sidewalk!" 

For many years DeLand had a good 
system of sidewalks and although there 
are still blocks that have none, you can get 
anywhere by sidewalk. Some stretches of 
sidewalk are in bad shape, caused mainly 
by tree roots upheaval and by heavy 
machinery being run over them. In 1970 
and 71, many of the uptown walks were 
replaced with narrower walks — putting 
the extra width into parking space which 
was badly needed and had the effect of 
widening the street. This was a big im- 
provement. 



The Party Line 

DeLand had a telegraph office from the 
very start, but the telephone was prac- 
tically unknown for a number of years. 
The earliest mention of a telephone was in 
1885 when it was reported that C.F. 
Chamberlain had a telephone reaching 
from his store to his dwelling. The next 
mention of one did not come until 1897 
when a carload of telephone poles was 
switched off here for a connecting line for 
the smaller towns to connect with the 
larger towns in the area. Evidently there 
were a few phones in the village before 
this. 

By 1901, DeLand was putting in a new 
telephone exchange to include many 
surrounding farm homes. 

In 1903, the village board at their 
meeting, refused the request of W.F. 

-28 — 



Wasson for the privilege of planting poles 
in the streets and alleys for the purpose of 
putting in a telephone system, but granted 
the request of W. Dilatush to set telephone 
poles along Main street to string wires into 
the State Bank and into Dr. Reid's 
residence. The wires were to connect with 
the Bell telephone station that had been set 
up in Jim Gessford's harness shop. The 
reasons for refusing one request and 
granting another were not given. 

In 1905, the local people were petitioning 
the Piatt County telephone company 
(owned by W.E. Lodge) for better service 
and a phone booth to be installed at the 
telephone office. 

The telephone office in 1907 was in an 
upper room of a two story frame building 
in the middle of the block on the west side 
of Main street. It was run by Mr. and Mrs. 
John Motherspaw and their daughter Nelle 
who lived in the upstairs and ran a 
restaurant downstairs. The exchange was 
in this building when the Conner store 
burned and was saved by the men who sat 
on the roof and poured water down its sides 
after the small barbershop was pushed 
into the fire. Whether the exchange was 
always there and whether the Mother- 
spaws ran it from its beginning I do not 
know, but it remained there until about 
1921 when it was moved with the 
Motherspaw family to the rooms above the 
State Bank where it remained until the 
telephones were changed to dial phones. 
Mr. Motherspaw and Nelle both died there 
and Mrs. Motherspaw continued to run the 
exchange for some time before going to 
Texas where her son Karl was living. 




Nelle Motherspaw, telephone office 
operator, a singer and a friend. 

In 1926 the local office received a new 
switchboard and in 1927, the local 
telephone company was included in a big 
telephone merger. Ten telephone com- 
panies merged into one and was known as 
Standard Telephone Co. It was to serve a 



total 01 twenty-five towns in Central 
Illinois. DeLand is now a part of the 
General Telephone System. 

There were several people who acted as 
Telephone Operators for a number of 
years after the Motherspaws. Edna Hayes 
(Lubbers). Gertrude Conner Churchill, 
Daisy Adams, Lucille Sweeney, Mrs. 
Smith (now Mrs. Gus Maria), and Ruth 
Sprague. Possibly there were others. They 
all gave good service and it was with 
regret as well as pleasure at progress, that 
we no longer had an operator to ask the 
time or where the fire was, or whether the 
oil man's truck was down on the street or 
the myriad other things the public ex- 
pected of their operator. In 1962 the Dial 
System was put in. The telephone ex- 
change is now a little building back of 
Smith's garage full of wires and 
who knows what, and if we need help in a 
hurry there are numbers you can dial. 
Very convenient but quite impersonal. 

One little story a joke on the writer ( or 
the operator). When I was in the library 
and Lucille Sweeney was here, I had a 
very unreliable clock. One evening, 
someone came in and asked to use the 
telephone. I heard her ring and then 
sputter "W-H-A-T'.' " I knew immediately 
what had happened. Lucille had answered 
with out waiting with "You can't go home 
yet. You'll have to stay five more 
minutes." I hastened to explain. But how is 
that for service. No dial phone would do 
that! 

Light on the Subject 

There were no street lights in DeLand 
for many years. When one wanted to go to 
church or anywhere else after dark, he 
carried a lantern or stumbled along in the 
dark unless there was a moon to aid him. 
Talk of street lights began prior to 1902 and 
ah)out that time there was some ex- 
perimentation of various kinds of lamps. 

"It seems possible that DeLand is soon 
to have her street lights. For the purpose 
of being able to decide as to their merits, 
we understand that several makes are to 
be tested for a period of two weeks. 
Monday, a Doran lamp on an iron stand 
was placed at Goodman and Brothers 
corner and lighted that evening and gave 
satisfactory light except that the low 
hanging limbs of trees obstructed its 
reaching both sides of the business 
district. Four lamps of the capacity of the 
one shown (1200 candlepower) with all the 
trees trimmed to proper height, would 
seem to be sufficient to light the business 
street and certain of the cross streets quite 
nicely if placed at the intersection." 

A Ludwig of 700 candlepower, price $50, 
a BEST lamp of 16 candlepower, price $59 
were placed at the Dewees and Gessford 
corners. The Ludwig and Doran lamps 
(price $45) had iron stands and mantles 
over the burners. The BEST was an or- 
dinary jet burner on a wooden post and the 



fourth to be tried a Marvel would be 
hung over the street on a wire A little 
later, six Marvel lamps were ordered, 
each 750 candlepower, price $15 each. W.S. 
Klder was to put them up, furnish the wire 
for hanging them and the pulleys and the 
village was to furnish the poles. When the 
new arc lights were in position, it was 
thought that they were satisfactory. One in 
the south part illuminated that part of 
town and allowed persons to get along even 
where the sidewalk had not been replaced. 

The village decided to put in more arc 
lights in November 1902 and Mr. Hurst 
installed a new lighting plant in his store. 

Evidently the lights began to fail in a 
short time, for within a year they had been 
given up as junk. And now the town was 
again in darkness and the editor of the 
Tribune complained: 

"What is the matter with our street 
lights? The one up near Eastern avenue 
has not been lit for a year and the marshal 
should see that they are put in order and 
lighted if they are not in order."And later, 
when they had all failed: "If the town was 
too poor to have lights there would be some 
excuse, but we are not poor and the sooner 
this matter is brought to the notice of the 
town council, the better. Let us have light 
of some kind!" 

It had been 18 years since Vail and H.H. 
Highfill had erected street lamps on the 
corners of their respective businesses 
which were declared quite a convenience. 
"A few more on our street corners would 
add much to the safety of our dilapidated 
sidewalks." 

In 1903, talk began about getting an 
electric light plant. T.C. Reed of Casey 
came to mterview the citizens concerning 
one. The city lawmakers met in special 
session and took steps to install what was 
considered to be essential to every village 
or city light plant. They made 

arrangements for an investigation of 
electric hghting. Bickel, Churchill, and 
Hassinger were appointed to do the in- 
vestigating. Evidently they did not con- 
sider those they saw too satisfactory or 
else they were too high priced. At any rate, 
Mr. Reed did not make a sale. 

In 1904, a Mr. Pike from Chicago sub- 
mitted a proposition for lighting the town- 
evidently it was to be gas lights as he 
agreed that for $6100 he would erect a 
suitable building, lay two miles of mains 
and put in ten lights of about 125 can- 
dlepower which would cost about a cent an 
hour to run. Private property would be 
piped and lighted at the expense of the 
owner. A Committee went to another town, 
investigated and decided that if the ex- 
pense were to be the question between 
hghts and water, the town had better put in 
water. 

In 1909 they were still talking lights. The 
Methodist Church had a hydro carbon light 

— 29 — 



on its corner. It was bright, but it cost $50 
which was higher than the town thought it 
could afford if they lighted the whole town 
which would take 60 lights. 

In June of 1909, Cooper Bowsher in- 
stalled an engine and a dynamo and his 
garage was brilliantly lighted with 6 
electric lights of 32c. p. each. The motor 
company had the first electric lighting 
plant in a business place although one or 
two people had installed them in their 
homes. But the success of the Bowsher 
lights did it. Talk began in earnest. In 
December, D.M. Bunn of Decatur came to 
look over the prospective installation. The 
first plan was for a local syndicate to buy 
power from the Illinois Traction System 
and bring the power here from the sub- 
station at White Heath. 

In 1911 they finally and positively 
decided upon electric lights. An Electric 
Light Ordinance was passed giving I.C. 
Bowsher a 20 year contract. He was to 
build a room for the plant which was a 
battery plant, and was to furnish 40 
tungsten lights for the street corners. On 
Highway Avenue in the business district, 
were erected 10 poles, each with a cluster 
of tlyee lights. That gave light to three 
blocks which made the business district 
very attractive at night. 

In September, it was reported that the 
linemen were at work on the lighting. On 
October 5th, the lights were reported as 
being on for the first time. (Just a trial 
run). In November, the switchboard for 
the plant arrived and was installed. The 
batteries and generator were in place, and 
presto! we had at last a good lighing 
system. 

The new street lights were a big im- 
provement in the town although at first 
they were burned only until midnight. 
Midnight owls were out of luck. They went 
home in the dark. Perhaps it was an in- 
ducement to keep early hours, but finally 
the lights won and were left on all night. 
Today they come on automatically at dusk 
and stay on till daybreak. 

There were times when people grum- 
bled. Women then invariably washed on 
Monday and ironed on T uesday. And they 
all bought electric irons. On ironing day 
the lights dimmed everywhere. And when 
something was going on at the High 
School-such as a ball game or a play, the 
lights all over the town flickered and 
dimmed all evening. This was all changed 
in the summer of 1928 when the Illinois 
Power and Light Company took over. In 
March of that year, the village board 
granted a 20 year franchise to that com- 
pany, allowing them to replace the lines in 
the village and use power that was brought 
in from one of their plants. By June, the 
power company was unloading materials 
and poles and trimming trees. As it turned 
out, it was fortunate that Bowsher had sold 
his plant as he died during that period. In 
November, all was in place and IPL 
linemen cut over the lines and connected 
up the service to the local patrons. Street 



and cluster lights were turned on 
automatically at 7:15 each evening and 
turned off at 12. 

This company — now called the Illinois 
Power Co., still has a franchise with the 
village. In 1948 the franchise was renewed 
and the company installed an electric eye 
to turn the street lights off and on at 
daybreak and sunset. Most of the old street 
lights were replaced in 1960 and newer 
brighter lights replaced the old cluster 
lights. 

The Illinois Power Co., sells electric 
power but it also sells natural gas. In 1961, 
the village granted them a 50 year fran- 
chise to bring natural gas into the village. 
In 1962 the gas lines were completed and 
most of the citizens converted their coal or 
oil heating systems to gas. By this time the 
age of appliances had arrived and it takes 
a lot of electricity to run the town. It is 
very pleasant to have all this except when 
an icestorm occurs and puts out the 
electricity that runs the gas furnaces. The 
company repairs damages as fast as 
possible but sometimes we endure a few 
cold hours. However, the last and worst 
such storm was in 1967. The two that we 
remember before that happened while 
many people still had oil or coal for heat. 
And one back in the forties only bothered a 
few people. One group of women in the 
town decided to go to one home where 
there was a cookstove to get breakfast on 
and to another where there was a space 
heater to play bridge. One, unthinkingly, 
took her electric percolator along and 
another took an electric toaster! So there 
are always bright spots in the situation ! 

WATKR WORKS AT REST .' 

While large cities and towns had water 
systems in the early days, villages didn't. 
Like the farms each family had a well and 
depended upon it for drinking water and 
each had a cistern to use for washing. 
However, most of these wells were 
shallow, dug wells of from 15 to 20 feet and 
thus subject to contamination from sur- 
face water that seeped into them. Then 
they were prone to go dry in the sum- 
mertime and the family had to carry 
drinking and cooking water from deeper 
wells in the neighborhood. Only a few had 
deep or drilled wells These were con- 
sidered safe. There were cases of typhoid 
now and then and of dysentery and cholera 
Morbus among the children and it is 
probable that many of the wells were 
contaminated long before the people 
realized it. There were two town wells — 
one at the corner of Main street and 3rd 
street and the other in front of Bickel's 
Blacksmith Shop down by the park. A 
windmill was put up at the latter and a 
tank provided for watering horses. 
Another tank for watering was just north 
of the present library site. There was also 
a well at the northeast corner of Jim 
Gessford's shop. It is probably now under 
the present DeLand State Bank. Not much 
water in case of fire! 



In 1904 after the town had had three 
disasterous fires and innumerable small 
ones, the citizens began to be concerned. 
About this time, too, the Iroquois theater 
fire occurred in Chicago, costing many 
lives. It was a disaster that stirred the 
whole nation, including DeLand. The 
people here began talking fire equipment, 
saying that we must take a lesson from the 
Chicago disaster and that since DeLand 
was not poor, we could have a system of 
waterworks without affecting people's 
pocketbooks too much. But when a 
meeting was called, only five people 
showed up and most of the evening was 
spent making light of the situation. One 
suggested that the marshal empower 
anyone he saw to load the water tank in 
front of Bickell and Dillavou's, raise it up 
and pour the water on the burning 
building! 

In August the school building burned 
along with some minor fires. The com- 
mittee appointed to investigate both water 
and lights advised the water system. After 
the Vail fire early in 1914, the village board 
began seriously to consider a water 
system. There was much ado before hand. 
Some wanted it, others opposed it. Con- 
sultation with the University Water Survey 
department brought out the fact that there 
was no water below DeLand, and that was 
discouraging. They had the money to 
spend for it and the board argued and 
debated but could find no answer. One 
evening, the debate became so warm that 
part of the trustees walked out. It looked as 
if the discussion was at an end. Then 
George Keller spoke up: (and the 
following is as Dr. Walker quoted it to the 
writer); 

"Well, boys," said Keller, "I don't see 
anything to do but to go to work and spend 
all the money as quick as God Almighty 
will let us. I move that we bring in a drill 
and drill until the money gives out!" 

And that is exactly what they did. They 
started the first well in January hoping to 
get water at 125 feet. By March they were 
at 140 and no water. 

In the meantime they found that the 
bond issue was illegal and they had to have 
a new one to take its place. Voting in April, 
the issue carried by a 41 majority. They 
gave up on the 140 foot hole and dug one to 
85 feet. It pumped only 20 gallons per 
minute. A contract was signed with a new 
company to go to 225 feet. That was 
abandoned. These wells were on village 
property just south of the creek. Another 
try was at Porter's elevator and was 
abandoned at 225 feet. The well digger 
sank a well on Alva Reed's place south of 
town and got 50 gallons per minute. But 
only salt water, sand or a dry hole in those 
tried in the village! 

Well, as expected, the money did run out 
and still no water system. Some wag 
erected a cross at the corner of what is now 
Madden and Trigg where the Vail building 

— 30 — 



had earlier burned, tied a piece of black 
cloth around it to resemble crepe and 
labeled it "WATER WORKS AT REST!" 
It was indeed at rest and remained so until 
the 1930's when three more major fires had 
practically finished off the business sec- 
tion, and a typhoid epidemic among the 
school children put most of the wells in 
town out of business for drinking water. 

The straw that broke the camel's back 
was the 1933 fire and the typhoid epidemic 
when it was discovered that most of the 
wells in town were contaminated. A water 
system became a MUST. And the only 
solution was to borrow money from a 
government fund. On October 19, 1934, the 
village board signed a contract for a loan 
and grant between DeLand and the U.S.A. 
for a PWA loan of $33,000 for the con- 
struction of a water system, if a supply of 
water could be found. A portion of the 
money was to be sent here by the govern- 
ment who would buy revenue bonds for the 
balance of the loan. The sale of water 
would be used to pay off the bonds. About 
75 users were needed. The village was to 
issue bonds for $26,000 to pay off its share. 
They were to accept bids on the digging of 
the well and erect a steel water tank 75 
feet high, a pumping station and put in the 
mains and hydrants. 

At first the people were slow in signing 
up as users. Then the Williams bakery 
burned. That speeded things up a bit. And 
there were more cases of typhoid. Again 
they dug, and dug, and dug— here and 
there over town. No water! They had to 
borrow more money. Finally, on the sixth 
test well sufficient water was found. The 
7th well was the permanent well put down 
close to the 6th, It was on the Trenchard 
farm just north of the township high 
school. This well had plenty of water but it 
was too hard. A water softener and 
something to remove the iron was added. 
From that time on, there was one delay 
after another. One company asked to be 
released from their contract with the 
village, the grant from the government 
had to be increased, funds were granted 
but held up. Finally, all the problems were 
ironed out, the work was finished, the 
water declared fit to drink, and the water 
meters installed. By now it was 1940. The 
project had taken six long years to ac- 
complish. But it soon proved its worth 
when the Christian church was saved from 
total destruction by fire, and the typhoid 
epidemics were at last over. Had they but 
known it, there was a wide vein of water 
running from southeast to northwest under 
the town that the water survey seemed to 
have missed. It was a case of drilling in the 
right place. 

But paying for the water has been a long 
and tedious task. The village did what the 
township had done earlier with the 
railroad bonds— failed to keep up the 
payments. This has increased the cost and 
we are still paying, but the water system is 
certainly one of our blessings. 



BUILDING BEGINS 

According to the county records, the 
first lot sold by Bondurant to be registered 
was town lot 4 in block 11. This was on July 
4, 1873 and was bought by one Cairy 
Busford whom no one seems to remember. 
Other early buyers were John and Mary 
Vail, Vail and Moody, George Corder and 
James Mace. Since people were then a 
little careless about registering property, 
it is probably that there were others. 

The first step in building up a com- 
munity after selling lots is of course to 
build shelter and business houses to supply 
the other necessities of food and clothing. 
This happened in DeLand in late 1873 and 
early 1874. Three or four houses were built 
and a general store went up. 




Gladys and Dick Dresback in front of 
Langdon house before remodeling. 

According to some early histories and 
Thomas Bondurant's statement, the first 
dwelling house in DeLand was built and 
owned by B.C. Langdon— the first grain 
buyer. It stood on the southwest corner of 
the intersection of Illinois avenue and 3rd 
street where Mrs. Parley Gantz' house 
now stands. Langdon lived in it for awhile 
and then sold it to John Bickel who later 
moved it to a lot on the north-east corner of 
the intersection of Illinois and South 
Second. In its place, Bickel built a larger 
house for his growing family which was 
razed only a few years ago. The first house 
is now owned by Warren Fisher. 




The Vail home is still in existence and 
stands on its original site on the northwest 
corner of the intersection of Indiana 
Avenue and 2nd street. For many years it 
was owned by the Eubanks and the Wests. 
The question of which was the first house 
in DeLand will probably never be 
resolved. According to tax records, both 
lots were improved the same year, so it is 
a toss-up as to which was first. 




Robert Dillon occupied the Leischner 
house for many years as did Mrs. Ham- 
mitt, Burford's mother. 

Curley Webb's house was originally built 
at an early date and donated for a 
Methodist Protestant Parsonage by 
Thomas Bondurant. 

The house occupied today by the Gaines 
family across from the town hall was built 
by Henry Gessford who was a fine car- 
penter and one of the first five families to 
settle in DeLand. 



Seth Langdon house-remodeled. Owned by 
Warren Fisher. 

But Miss Piatt's History of Piatt county 
says that John V4il built the first house. 



Tilson house now remodeled and owned by 
Bert Smith. 

Some of the first dwellings were moved 
into DeLand from the country. The first to 
be moved in was the Dick Tilson house. He 
placed it on the corner where the 
Methodist church now stands. At the same 
time, he moved his blacksmith shop in 
from a site a mile southwest of the railroad 
in what is now the Gantz timber on the 
west side of the creek. When the Methodist 
congregation wanted the Tilson house site 
for the new church, the house was moved 
by R.B. Moody to the northwest corner of 
the intersection of Illinois and South 
Second. Today, Bert and Mattie Smith live 
in it. Both the Smith's and the Fishers have 
remodeled the houses and aside from their 
architectural style, few would recognize 
them for 100 year old buildings. 

Some of the other very old houses still 
standing are: A house on 3rd street owned 
lately by Roy's that was built just south of 
the railroad where Mrs. Alva Reed now 
lives. It was built by Wiley Dewees and a 
house just south of it was built by Dewees 
for his mother. When Clyde Porter built 
the house now owned by Bruce Meyer, the 
grandma Dewees house was moved south 
to the last block and today is Lavonne 
Burton's house. 

Ellis Leischner's home was the first 
south of the railroad and was built by a 
man named Brown. The Hall house was 
built by a man named Higfill, who moved 
four rooms that stood behind what is today 
the Tribune Building, and added to it. The 
Hall house was occupied for many years 
by the Chapin family and then by the 
Chapin daughter. Donna Reid. Mr. and 
Mrs. Carroll also lived there a long time. 

— 31 — 




Propeck house now occupied by Mattie 
Burton. Built by George Race at an early 
date. 

There are other old houses — Mrs. 
Burton's across from the old township high 
school. The old Crisman house, the house 
next to the Christian church, — un- 
doubtedly there are others whose history is 
unknown. But the one with a "different" 
history is the house in which Irl Cathcart 
lived for so many years, now occupied by 
Loren Vaughn. This house was built by Dr. 
Davis for a residence and office on some of 
the lots in block 10, north of the present 
State Bank. In 1895, the site was wanted for 
some new business buildings, so Dr. Davis 
had his building moved east across the 
alley to its present site. Shortly before the 
decision to move it. Dr. Davis had dug a 
new cistern, which he was loath to leave. 
He determined to move the cistern, too. 
One source says that he got the walls of the 
cistern up out of the ground but broke it 
when he lowered it into the new hole. 
Another source says that he demolished 
the structure before he got it up. Some 
folks think this is a tall tale. But true or 




The D.O. Fisher home. One of DeLand's 
modern houses. 



not, it is a good story and one person told 
me that Dr. Davis was perfectly capable of 
attempting such a stunt. 

The village of DeLand is much changed 
today from what it was in those early days, 
but it still has some of the same charac- 
teristic. 

A neighboring newspaper once 
described DeLand as a beautiful little 
village with an abundance of shade trees, 
and houses, most of them painted white. 
While we have lost many of the shade 
trees, most of the houses are still painted 
white and the yards are kept neatly 
mowed. With the advent of the gasoline 
mower, it is much easier now to keep a 
place looking nice. The writer remembers 
when her father staked the pony out in the 
back year to "mow" off the high grass! 
The styles of housing have changed with 
the times, but it is still a beautiful little 
town. 




''-■_;;;*ift;;^*^eS<%«»« ^ 



Fonner store, Christmas party 



BUSINESS WAS GOOD 

Business was good in the early days. It 
had to be. It took a couple of hours or more 
to go to Monticello by horse and buggy 
and the day was shot. One could go to 
Clinton and spend the day, but again the 
day was gone. One couldn't run over to 
Clinton and spend the day just to get a 
spool of thread, or a saw or a loaf of bread, 
or repairs for a piece of machinery. 

The first business building in DeLand 
was a two story frame building put up by 
Vail and Moody for a general store. It 
stood where the postoffice now stands. The 
lower floor was a general store that sold 
groceries, dry goods, and whatever else 
was needed. The upper floor was occupied 
by the "Hall", a large room rented out for 
various meetings and church services. 
After a year or two Moody sold out his 
interest to Vail, and later on, after Vail 
built his drug store building — a double 
building on the corner where Madden and 
Trigg have their Insurance office now, 
other firms took over including a man 
named Chenowith and L.B. Hurst. Both 
ran general stores there. It was often 
spoken of as the Chenowith building. When 
the First National Bank was built on that 
corner, the old building was moved a block 
north to the spot where John Dean Roos 
now lives. 




Business Block on Highway Ave. 



Moody and Vail were two of the five 
earliest settlers in DeLand. Both men were 
Civil War Veterans — both men came from 
Ohio, both were farmers in Goose Creek, 
Moody coming in 1868 and Vail in 1859. 
Both moved into DeLand soon after it was 
laid out, and both were prominent men, 
taking an active part in the building up of 
the town. Moody's wife, the former 
Rumina Hassinger of Ohio, also took an 
active part in the community, running a 
boarding house for traveling salesmen and 
other transients in their home. Both were 
charter members of the Methodist church. 
After selling out to Vail, Moody engaged in 
carpenter work. Next he built a grain 
elevator which he ran for a number of 
years. In 1889, he sold the grain elevator 
and devoted his time to the factory. 
He was a stock holder in the First National 
Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Moody had no children 
d their own, but took to their hearts 
several young people including James 
Moody, D.B. Troxel, Bruce demons, 
Pearl demons, Grace Jones, Eva Carroll, 
and Lawrence Dawson. Johnnie Carrol 
and Will Troxel stayed there for awhile as 
did Rumina Troxel who died at 24 and 
another Troxel sister who married Salem 
Kesler and was the mother of Lola Cath- 
cart and Wave Hassinger who were 
residents here for many years. Many of 
these young people were relatives but the 
Carroll's came from Chicago. Johnnie was 
lame. He had a beautiful voice and sang 
for a long time in a male quartette that 
was well known around DeLand. 

When "Uncle Bruce" died about 1912, 
"Aunt Minie" moved to the house in the 
south part of town the Tilson house and 
lived there till she was unable to live alone 
any longer. She lived with the Dave Troxel 
family for sometime before she died. 

John Vail, a product of a log cabin and a 
subscription school in Ohio, was a druggist 
for many years following his adventure in 
the general store business. Mr. Vail was a 

— 32- 




J. Q. Carter — Lumber Yard. 

Democrat - in fact they spoke of him as 
the "Boss Democrat" and was appointed 
postmaster two times. He held several 
township offices and served one term as 
Deputy Sheriff of Piatt County. The Vail's 
(Mrs. Vail was the former Mary Drais of 
Ohio) had five children. One died in in- 
fancy; Arminda married John Harrison ~ 
early DeLand doctor; Mary married 
Taylor Majors, Lucinda married W.O. 
Cobb and Ida married Lewis Mathews. 
The Mathews had sons Ray and Fay. Fay 
lived with his grandparents for many 
years but died when a young man. Ray 
married Eva Trigg and had several 
children. They farmed southeast of 
DeLand for many years before moving to 
Michigan. The Cobb family also lived here 
and was in the furniture and undertaking 
business. Their home was the present Ted 
Webb house. Mr. Vail, after his wife's 
death sold out his home and retired to 
California. He still owned the drug store 
building at the time it burned in 1914. 

Building continued until, by late 1875, the 
following business houses were men- 
tioned. The reporter began his account 
thus: 

"I tell you "Young Chicago" is im- 
proving rapidly. We have a billiard hall 
(location not given) and the boys make 
things go lively. G.H. Race, Proprietor, 
says everything shall be conducted 
properly, and we believe George for he is a 
splendid fellow in many respects." 




I'hrec buildings on east side made of tile — 
burned l!i:!:t. 



"The Rienhart Brothers will soon have 
their new building completed and ready 
fora stock of goods." (This building was in 
the middle of the block on the west side of 
the present park. It burned along with 
buildings north of it in 1888. ) The Rinehart 
Brothers were I.L. Rinehart and Joel who 
remained in the community for the rest of 
their lives. Joel was a Civil War Veteran. 
He and his wife Lily had one daughter. I 
believe. I.I^. Rinehart had three children, 
Grace. Bruce and Ross. Both Bruce and 
Ross were connected with the State Bank 
and Bruce was editor of the Tribune for 
awhile. Bruce married and had a little 
daughter. Both the child and his wife died 
early. He then married Bess Cultra and 
had a daughter. Ross married Lucille 
Dauberman, a local high school teacher. 
He was connected with the Farmer City 
State Bank for a long time. 

"The hardware merchants are doing a 
fine business. We wish them well." "H. 
Gessford is still at the old stand where he is 
always ready to oblige customers." 

(Henry Gessford and his wife were one 
of the first five families to come to 
DeLand. The Gessford's came here from 
Dewitt county where he farmed after 
returning from the Civil War. The business 
he established here was under the name 
"Henry Gessford Mercantile Business." 
He conducted this business in the present 
Tribune building which he built. After five 
years, he sold out and began to work in 
real estate, building and selling houses and 
business buildings. He was an excellent 
carpenter and built well. The Gaines 
property was built by Gessford for a home. 
They had four children James, a har- 
ness maker and dealer of harness and 
saddlery at DeLand; Charles G. who lived 
with his father and owned and operated a 
thresher and corn sheller; Maude, the first 
baby born m DeLand (her middle name 
was DeLand She married Kd Johnson and 
they lived in Monticello. She had an out- 
standing voice.) and Bertram E. who was 
with his brother Jim in the harness 
business until he moved to Florida about 
1908 or 09. The Gessford's were charter 
members of the Methodist church and he 
was active in the G.A.R.) 

The drugstore, owned by G.W. Corder, 
hiis been closed for several days past. We 
understand he and his family are visiting 
at CImton This building was on the east 
side about where the bank driveway on the 



southside is today. It was later owned by 
J L Reed and then by Jim Gessford. 

Jim Gessford who ran a harness shop in 
the Corder building bougl.t it in 1893. He 
also handled other goods such as trunks 
and valises and ran a shoe repair shop in 
the back. Children of those days had 
reason for remembering him. He had a life 
size, dapple gray wooden horse in the 
harness shop on which he displayed 
harnesses, but he was also a kindly, 
friendly man where children were con- 
cerned and delighted the youngsters by 
boosting them onto the horse, Old Charley, 
and letting them sit there for awhile 
pretending they were galloping over the 
prairies. In 1938 Old Charley was 64 and 
had been in the shop for 40 years. It was 
fun. He kept a supply of stock medicines 
and pamphlets to go with them and he 
shared the pamphlets with the 7th and 8th 
grade pupils when they were studying live 
stock in their agriculture course. The 
pamphlets contained pictures and 
descriptions of Percherons, Clydsdales, 
Normans. Shropshire, Hamshires, Poland 
Chinas. Duroc Jerseys. Holsteins. 
Guernseys. Herfords. Black Langshans, 
Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds and 
many others. The children of that day 
knew what they were! Do you? 




^rvw 



Bakery building on Library site. 




Dreshack store — Dick. Winnie Leischner 
iiiid one of the girls. 

Jini was the son ol Henry Gessford. He 
married Nannie Ammann. daughter of 
JohnAmmann, boot and shoe man. and his 
wife Margaret. They lived in a house 
where Burford Hammitt lives and 
replaced it with the Hammitt house. The 

— 33 — 



house was a two story house but a fire took 
off the upper story. When Mr. Gessford 
died, the store building was razed and Mrs. 
Johnson, his sister, sold the horse to 
Robert Allerton for his wooden horse 
collection. So far as I know, it is still on the 
Allerton place. 

"The harness shop is in full blast. Mr. 
Parr late of Clinton is putting up some 
very neat sets of harness." This was an 
earlier harness shop down in the park area 
but I don't know exactly where. 

These, except Jim Gessford's were the 
earlier businesses of DeLand and Jim's 
shop was later in the Corder building 
which was one of the first buildings in 
DeLand. 

As time went by. more and more frame 
buildings were built which stretched from 
the railroad to the creek. Dick Tilson's 
blacksmith shop was also very early but 
more of it later. Business was booming. It 
looked like a growing community. It was 
reported in one paper that the grain buyers 
at DeLand shipped more grain in 1875 than 
was shipped at any other point in the 
county. 




Smith's garage before light plant was 
built. Notice outside stairway to the next 
building. Used for schoolroom upstairs. 




Smith's garage today. 



FARM RELATED INDUSTRIES 

Many of the early industries in DeLand 
were farm-related. There was the grain 
business for which the town was founded. 
There were the stockyards along the 
railroad and the tile factory at the east 
edge of town. The creamery was built for 
the benefit of those having cream to sell as 
well as those who wished to buy. The cob 
business was a farm product put to 
another use. The blacksmith shops, the 
wagon and implement businesses, the 
goose farm and the turkey farm. All of 
these dealt with farm products or farm 



needs. Today, the fertilizer business is of 
great importance to the farmer. 

THE GRAIN BUSINESS 

Undoubtedly the biggest business over 
the years has been the grain business. The 
village was laid out because of the need for 
a shipping center for the nearby farmers. 




Looking east up the railroad tracks 
showing all three elevators. 

Grain buying began almost immediately 
and Seth Langdon, as you may guess, was 
the first grain buyer. The grain brought in 
was not stored as it is today nor dried by a 
commercial dryer. It dried in the fields 
and was brought in and scooped into the 
railway cars sent in to get it. In 1875 A.R. 
Borton, who was also in the grain 
business, had two large bins built for 
storing small grain. There had been over 
100,000 bushels of corn shipped from this 
station during the preceeding year. It sold 
from 53 to 55 cents a bushel. 

The 1880's saw the building of two grain 
elevators. Moody and Rodman built an 
elevator in 1881 that stood approximately 
where the new elevator stands today. The 
sheller attached to the Moody and Rod- 
man elevator shelled 800 to 900 bushels an 
hour. Late in the eighties they built an 
addition and in 1889 it was sold to L.W. 
Tyler of a Chicago firm. In December of 
1892, it burned and was not replaced. 

In July of 1883, Kirker and Porter 
(Horace) commenced the building of a 
grain office across the siding from the 
depot which was then on the west side of 
Main street. This turned out to be a long 
time business as it was in the Porter 
family for 68 years. Porter had several 
partners from time to time including two 
brothers in-law, O'Brien and J.Q. Carter. 
In 1885, Mr. Porter put in a steam engine 
to run the thing. In 1888, the grain buyers 
were complaining of the lack of cars in 
which to ship their grain. (Sounds 
familiar, doesn't it!) At one point, H.G. 
Porter looked over the situation at Lodge 
and threatened to move his business over 
on the Wabash if the Illinois Central did 
not furnish more cars! 

In 1888, this item appeared in the DeLand 
notes: "DeLand shipped during the past 
year 403 carloads of grain by Porter and 
Carter, 1283 loads by Moody and Rodman; 
and 44 carloads of livestock making a total 
of 703 cars. Not included were 100,000 



bushels of corn cribbed which is to be 
shipped." 

The Porter elevator was unlike any we 
see today. To begin with, the elevator was 
built when there was no machinery to 
elevate the grain. Since it was necessary 
to have the grain higher than the car into 
which it was being loaded, it was 
necessary to use gravity. Consequently, 
the driveway of the elevator had to be 
high, and that in turn made it necessary to 
have a high driveway to the elevator. In 
order to accomplish this, the driveway had 
to be long. Porter's curved around from 
the elevator to the corner of the present 
park where the scale house stood. 

Porter ran the elevator for many 
years— first with partners, then on his own 
and finally Porter and Sons. In 1905 he 
replaced the first elevator with a new and 
modern one. This stands today on the 
same site as the first and belongs to the 
Farmer's Cooperative. He also owned the 
elevators at Combes Switch 24 miles east 
of DeLand. The date of the first building at 
the Switch is unknown but a few people 
remember it. In 1909 he replaced this 
elevator with the present building which 
also now belongs to the Farmer's Co-op. 
Mr. Porter retired in 1910 because of poor 
health and his two sons, Clifford and Clyde 
took over the business and it became 
known as Porter Brothers. 




2nd Porter elevator from the north. 

The Porters were the longest 
established business in DeLand. Clifford, 
the oldest son, went into the business soon 
after he graduated from DeLand High 
School in 1895 in the first graduating class. 
Clyde went on to dental school and 
practiced a year or so before joining his 
father and brother in the grain business. 
The sons of the Porter brothers were also 
connected with the firm for awhile. They 
were Harold, son of Clifford , and Kenneth, 
son of Clyde. All of the Porter men are now 
deceased. 

By 1950, both Porter brothers were 
beginning to feel the need of retiring. Both 
men had been active in the community 
and were highly respected. So when an 
offer was made by the Farmer's Co- 
operative Grain Company to buy them out, 
the Porters accepted the offer and retired, 

— 34 — 



Clyde died in 1959 and Clifford in 1971 at 
the age of 95. Thus for the first time in 67 
years there was no Porter family living in 
DeLand. H.G. Porter farmed north of town 
first, moved to DeLand in 1878 and ran a 
store until he went into the grain business. 
Clifford's wife was Emma Gordon. They 
had 3 girls — Hazel, Cleo and Geneva, 
(Hazel Butler, Cleo Helfenstein and 
Geneva Millikin) besides Harold. None 
live here. Clyde married Joyce Chapin. 
They had two girls — Kathleen Reilly and 
MaxineThornburrow besides Kenneth. 
H.G. Porter had another son — Gail and 
several daughters — Maggie Dewees, 
Estella Kesler and Fanny Herlocker. 

In 1896, a third elevator was built at the 
east end of the DeLand siding by Mueller 
and company and was managed by Joe 
Rankin. In 1898 it was bought by Frank 
McBride and A.B. Dillavou. They built an 
addition to the elevator. (The price of corn 
that year was 31 cents). In 1900 the end of 
the elevator fell out spilling several 
hundred bushels of grain. 

Over the years, several changes took 
place. It was purchased in 1903 by William 
West who sold it to M.H. Kahler who 
passed it on in 1909 to Joseph Parrish of 
Homer. He did not keep it long but sold it 
in December of 1909 to W.T. Hardin. 
Hardin kept it for five years, then sold it to 
J. Burt Porterfield. When Porterfield first 
talked about buying the elevator from 
Hardin, Hardin did not want to sell. So he 
upped the price thinking that Porterfield 
would turn it down. To his dismay Por- 
terfield accepted the price. Hardin had 
been active in the community and he and 
his family liked it here. He had increased 
the amount of business 23,000 bushels the 
first year he had the business and the year 
he left had increased it 38,000 bushels. He 
went from here to Cisco. 

On November 14, 1919, the DeLand 
Farmer's Cooperative Grain Company 
was organized. Officers elected were 
President-H.L. Swartz; Vice President- 
Earl Bragg; Secretary-G.R. Hursh; 
Treasurer-Alva Reed. These and three 
other directors-Wayne Wisegarver, 
Charles Beckett, and Christian Lubbers 
were elected to have charge of the com- 
pany's affairs. There were 58 
stockholders. The Charter was to run for 
99 years. They planned to erect a new 
elevator unless one of the local grain men 
would sell at a reasonable price. Por- 
terfield was willing to sell for $25,000. The 
business was the farmers. They and 
Porter Brothers were competitors until 
1950 when the latter sold to them. The 
capacity of the Porter elevator was 88,000 
bushels and that totaled up to 200,000 
bushels capacity for the farmers. The sale 
included the coal business of both 
elevators. In January of 1959, they added 
the Lumber Co. to their assets. In 1958, 
they put up fourteen steel bins with a 
capacity of 103,000 and in 1966 again ex- 
panded their holdings by building a new 
concrete high-rise elevator just south of 



the lumber yard. It is 178 feet tall, has 19 
bins with a capacity of 250,000 bushels and 
an attached dryer which allows the far- 
mers to harvest their corn at a much 
earlier date. In 1971, an addition was built 
west of the 1966 structure. It has 14 bins 
with a capacity of 350,000 bushels. In 1972 a 
55 foot steel tank 89 feet high increased the 
elevator storage another 200,000 bushels. 

Now the new elevator and its additions, 
the three old elevators and 75 storage bins, 
the grain company was able to take in in 
1971, dry and store over a million bushels 
of corn. Quite an accomplishment for 
DeLand and Goose Creek township where 
most of the million bushels were raised. 

When the staff saw that the million 
bushel mark would soon be reached, they 
watched to see who would bring in the 
millionth bushel. Jim Huisinga, who farms 
southeast of DeLand was the lucky man 
and they presented him with a new 
Eisenhower silver dollar. 




New Grain Office. 

The present manager of the Farmer's 
Grain and Lumber Co. is Lloyd Crighton. 
The officers are President — J.E. Reed; 
Vice President — Lindell Huisinga; Sec- 
Treas. John Gantz; and Directors — 
George Timmons, Earl Kidd, Arthur 
Trimble and Don Hermann. 

The Farmer's Cooperative now owns the 
Lumber Yard. Lumber yards were 
established early in the village and were 
located near the railroad. We believe that 
there was more than one lumber business 
in the early days but who owned what or 
where is a little hard to determine from 
the comments of the early correspondent. 
At an early date, G.L. Brown established 
one and for awhile James Stephenson was 
Brown's partner but he retired leaving 
Brown in full possession. Mr. Conway of 
Monticello bought out Mr. Brown. C.E. 
Dewees had something to do with the 
lumber company as did Henry VanViskle 
who had a woodworking shop between the 
lumber co. and the railroad. 

Mr. S.A. Goodman was owner of the 
present lumber yard for a number of 
years. In February of 1903, he had a public 
sale and the building, sheds, and ground 
were bid in for $4600 by Quicy Carter of 
Sidell. (Mr. Carter was the same Carter 
who had previously been a partner of 
Horace Porter in the grain business). Mr. 
Carter was an excellent business man and 
ran the lumber business efficiently until 



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Present lumber yard. 

the building burned in 1917. After the fire, 
he built the present structure, finishing it 
in 1919. In 1921;, he sold the business to 
Peter Kuntz of the Cook Lumber Co. of 
Dayton, Ohio, who held it until the Far- 
mer's Cooperative bought it. During that 
time, there were three managers who 
stayed for many years Howard Chaney, 
Melvin Vaughn and Irl Cathcart. Cathcart 
was there for 33 years. Lynn Shull has 
been in charge since Cathcart left. A.N. 
Kerns also had a lumber yard for awhile at 
the east end of 1st street but Carter bought 
him out. 

The coal business has been a part of the 
grain business in DeLand most of the time. 
I think a few men dealt with coal in the 
earliest days and Ezra Morgan had a 
separate coal business for many years out 
at Combes Switch. In fact, the first 
elevator at Combes Switch is remembered 
more for its coal business than for its grain 
business! 

Both Porter's and the East elevator sold 
coal. It was the fuel of the time. It became 
a primary part of the grain business until 
the I950's when the oil business became 
profitable and many people converted to 
that fuel. Later, in the sixties, Illinois 
Power Company put in Natural gas and 
again the community changed fuels. Since 
the gas does not reach farm homes, many 
of the farmers use either fuel oil or 
skelgas. And fuel oil is needed for tractors 
and other machinery, so there are still fuel 
oil businesses here. Paul Manning delivers 
oil for the Marathon Co. and George 
Edwards for Piatt County Service Co. 

But to go back to the coal industry. Coal 
bins were built along the siding west of 
Porters and west of the East elevator. 
They stored both soft and hard coal. A 
number of people burned the latter in what 
were called base burners. It was more 
expensive but gave out a regular steady 
heat and lasted over night. And it was 
much cleaner. Two buckets of coal each 
day sufficed unless the weather was 
unusually cold as in a blizzard. So most 
folks considred it less expensive in the long 
run. 

There were times when coal was hard to 
get. When the miners went on strike, it 
affected everyone. At such times the word 
that there was a coal car on the siding soon 
emptied it. Often the amount to a 
customer had to be limited. During the 



35 



war years coal was rationed. During 
World War II, local men had to haul coal 
from nearby Illinois coal mines because 
the elevators were out so much. 

Several times during DeLand's history 
there have been coal famines. One oc- 
curred in January of 1893. When two 
carloads arrived, word must have flown 
for the supply was gone in less than two 
hours. In 1903 hard coal was $12.50 a ton 
and soft coal $4.25 and you could buy a 
bucket of axle grease for $1.00. What was 
axle grease? You greased buggy wheels 
with it so they wouldn't squeak. Now the 
coal bins are gone except for one or two 
dilapidated ones at the west end of the 
siding. The coal buisness is a thing of the 
past. 

At one time there were stock yards near 
the east end of the siding. They fell into 
disuse when large trucks began hauling 
live stock directly from the farms to 
market. So the stock yards were sold to 
Elmer West who tore down the pens and 
made other use of the lumber. 

Now there is a cob business at the east 
end. The business is owned by D.O. Fisher 
and son. Cobs used to be used as fuel in 
both heating and cook stoves and they far 
surpassed kindling for starting a fire. 
After everyone got their cob houses filled, 
the rest of the cob pile left from shelling 
was burned. About the middle of the for- 
ties. Bob Dresback started the business of 
stockpiling cobs and shipping them to a 
firm that made chemicals. E.E. Leischner 
shortly thereafter became a member of 
the firm. D.O. Fisher began working for 
them in 1947. About 1953 Fisher bought the 
business including the sheller and still 
runs it today. They ship 600 or 700 carloads 
a year to Memphis Tennessee. The cobs, 
meanwhile are piled up into a wire en- 
closure and sometimes the pile becomes 
pretty large. But the cob pile has dwindled 
some since farmers began combining 
their corn, and the Fishers have to go 
much farther to get their cobs which are 
hauled in large trucks. 




±^ 



Fertilizer Co. 

At the west end of the siding, there is a 
place where phosphate fertilizer can be 
unloaded. There are now two fertilizer 
businesses in DeLand. One is the Kaiser 
Agricultural Chemicals, the other the 
Sohigro Service Company. The Standard 
Oil Division of the American Oil Co. also 
has LP. Gas and Fertilizer. The last 



named sells Anhydrous ammonia to put on 
farm land in the spring. It is located near 
Combes Switch. The Sohigro Co. is a part 
of the Vestron Corporation and sells farm 
fertilizer. It was started here in 1968 and is 
located about two miles east of DeLand. 
Ron Hall is manager. 

The Kaiser Agricultural Chemicals 
plant is at the corner of Highway Avenue 
and 4th street. It is a successor to DeLand 
Phosphate Co. which was started several 
years ago by local people and was 
managed by Roy Vaughn. The Kaiser Co. 
is managed by Bill Carr. 

THE TILE FACTORY 

The tile factory at the east side of 
DeLand — now the dumping grounds — 
was an early farm related industry. 
Farms had to be drained because they 
were swampy. The mole like tiler that was 
used originally did an exceptional job at 
getting rid of the swamps, but as the land 
was settled the farmers found it desirable 
to have a better way of draining the land. 
During the early 1880's, tile factories 
sprung up throughout central Illinois. At 
one time there were fourteen in Piatt 
County. 

The DeLand tile factory was first an- 
nounced in March, 1883. Said the reporter: 

"If the land in this county is not thoroughly 
drained in the next few years, it will not be 
for lack of tile factories." 

By July of that year our tile factory was 
booming. By August 15th, Bowsher, Gantz, 
and Wilson were burning their sixth kiln of 
tile. They had made 22,000 pressed brick, 
and had a mold from which they had made 
100,000 molded tile. 

In March of 1884, the factory caught fire 
and serious damage was averted by the 
prompt assistance of the citizens. In 
December of 1884, the proprietors reduced 
the wages of all their employees to 12 cents 
an hour, taking effect immediately. That 
caused some dissatisfaction and resulted 
in some changes of employees. 

A.R. Borton and J.C. Borton were two of 
the original owners and in 1885, Moody 
bought out the interest of both. That gave 
him "i/i interest. Somewhere along the line 
he bought out the other interest and 
became sole owner. In 1889, he purchased 
new machinery and the next year 
remodeled and fitted the factory with a 
new mill and shed. Business always 
boomed in the summer time but the fac- 
tory closed down in winter. When business 
boomed. Moody stacked tile on lots that he 
owned around town. Evidence of this 
showed up when Howard Dresback built 
the house in which Mae Rudisill lives. The 
entire lot is underlaid with bits of broken 
tile! 

Two accidents at the factory are men- 
tioned in the papers. Moody's foot was 
crushed when a 60 pound weight fell upon 
it, and Ralph Souders had a close call when 
the machinery was started when he was 



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Tile factory 



seated on a belt — a practice about which 
he had been warned repeatedly. He was 
carried into a large fly wheel but the 
engineer saw him in time to stop the 
machinery before he was fatally injured. 
Ralph was unconscious and it was feared 
that he had internal injuries but he 
recovered. 

In the spring of 1905, the weight of so 
many "green" tile and bricks in the drying 
shed caused the old building to collapse. A 
large shed was rebuilt and manufacturing 
took place for three more years. The plant 
again needed remodeling and rather than 
go to that expense, Mr. Moody closed it 
down. This was in 1909 and Mr. Moody's 
health was bad so the plant was allowed to 
go to pieces. In 1914 after Mr. Moody died 
in 1912, the place was sold to A.N. Kerns, 
who tore the buildings down and built a 
home on part of the site. 

The razing of the tile factory left a great 
hole which filled with water and in winter 
this pond froze over and was used as a 
skating pond. And in spring — well you 
could always tell when spring had arrived 
by the frogs who raised their voices in a 
chorus in the evenings. 

In the 1940's. townspeople became tired 
of the looks of the junk yard that had 
grown up just this side of the creek at the 
north entrance to the village and requested 
that a new place be found. Sherman 
Parrish. who then owned the tile factory 
land sold a part of it to the village who 
tilled up the pond with junk. While it was 
sometimes obnoxious, it was better than 
the former site. A few years ago the state 
passed a law that closed up any junkyard 
that could not put four inches of dirt over 
the junk and garbage deposited in a day. 

— 36 — 



The village was forced to close it to public 
use. Now everything is hauled to the 
landfill at Monticello , a privilege that is 
paid for by the township. Leach disposal 
picks up garbage and trash once each 
week, a service that is paid for by the 
individual user of the service. Some people 
take the trash down themselves. However, 
the village does use the old dump for 
burning brush and tree limbs, especially 
after destructive storms. 

BLACKSMITH SHOPS 

Today, the blacksmith shop is a business 
of the past. There are few work horses in 
this day of tractors, but blacksmith shops 
were a very necessary business when 
horses were the mainstay of the farm work 
and were also used for travel. In bad 
weather horses had to be shod because 
they were inclined to slip and fall on ice 
just as people are. They also needed shoes 
if they traveled much for the protection of 
their feet. The blacksmith shops also 
engaged in the repair of machinery and 
things of that nature. 

There were two blacksmith shops 
mentioned in items of DeLand. One was 
the Dillavou shop on the east side of the 
block that is now the park later owned by 
Bickel. The other was one owned by 
Richard Tilson that stood first on the west 
side of the creek in what is now Gantz' 
timber south of DeLand. This blacksmith 
shop was really the beginning of a 
potential village there but failed to 
materialize because the railroad was put 
in and DeLand founded. Tilson almost 
immediately moved his shop into DeLand, 
and placed it on the corner of Highway 
Avenue (Main Street) and 3rd where the 
Odd Fellow building now stands. He also 




Karlv IJii-kol's buildings on east side of 
present park. 

bought the lot across the alley to the west 
and moved a house onto it. The blacksmith 
shop remained there until 1»89 or 1890 
when the corner was wanted for a bank. He 
sold the lot to the Swigart Brothers who 
were starting the bank that was to become 
the First State Bank of DeLand. Tilson 
moved his blacksmith shop one block north 
to the corner now occupied by the Kaiser 
Agricultural Chemicals. In the early 
1900's, he sold the shop to Lyie Cathcart 
who owned it until it burned in 1930. 

There seemed to be an occasional 
change of ownership of this shop between 
1889 and 1890 probably temporary 

arrangements at the time of the move. At 
one time it was reported that "Dick Tilson, 
our accomplished blacksmith traded his 
town property toN. Courierfor his farm. A 
Mr. Johnson of Leroy will occupy the 
shop." In 1890 this item, "Tilson and Elder 
is the style of the latest firm. They have 
put in a burr (mill) in connection with 
Tilson's blacksmith shop and are prepared 
to grind meal etc. at a moment's notice." 

Later in 1890, Hollis Fuller bought a half 
interest in the shop for $500. Now "Tilson 
and Fuller." 

Most businesses are fraught with some 
kind of danger. The blacksmith business 
was no exception. In 1893, Mr. Tilson was 
injured by a horse shoe he was polishing 
getting caught in an emory wheel and 
being hurled into his face. He had several 
cuts and several stitches but got along 
well. 

At the time of the fire, 1930, other 
buildings in the area went too. There was a 
large sales barn (originally built for a 
livery stable) just north of the blacksmith 
shop, a garage to the north of that, and a 
woodworking shop behind the blacksmith 
shop which Mr. Cathcart used as a show 
room for automobiles in which he dealt. 
They all burned. The sales barn had been 
converted into an implement business. 
Cathcart sold Chevrolet cars and In- 
ternational Implements. 

Cathcart decided not to rebuild. He sold 
the site to L.E Kallembach who rebuilt the 
blacksmith shop but on the lot north of the 
original one and ran the business for 31 
years retiring in 1962. 

The lot on the corner north of the shop 
was occupied for a time by a filling station 
and it was succeeded by the Del, and 
Phosphate company. The blacksmith shop 
was razed and today that area includes the 



Kaiser plant, a township shed, and the 
Marathon Oil Company which has an in- 
stallation there. 

The Dillavou blacksmith was the nor- 
thernmast of the buildings that burned in 
1H88. The building was rebuilt and stood 
until 1916 when Miss Bondurant bought 
these lots, and donated the entire block for 
a park. Some Bondurant corncribs had 
stood on the west side of the block and 
they, too, were razed. By this time there 
was little need for a blacksmith shop and 
Dillavou did not set up in business 
elsewhere. 

TIIK DELAND CREAMERY 

A creamery was one of the farm 
related occupations that should have 
been a success but wasn't. It was 
suggested several times in the 80's and 90's 
that a creamery would be a good business 
for DeLand but it wasn't until 1903 that the 
idea was considered seriously. In that year 
the outlook for a butter and cheese factory 
was favorable and a Chicago firm was 
proposing to put one here. It was con- 
sidered to be a good opportunity for both 
the townspeople and the farmers. So a 
corporation was formed and shares sold. 
This was in late September. By the end of 
October all the shares had been sold and 
the contract closed. The stockholders met 
at the Wigwam and elected a committee to 
purchase a site and contract for the 
building. They hoped to have it running in 
ninety days. By March 11, 1904, the 
DeLand Creamery was advertising for 
drivers for their cream routes the 
drivers to furnish their own teams. A year 
later on Feb. 10, 1905, the proprietors were 
complaining because the farmers in the 
vicinity were not selling their milk to 
them. The creamery had worked up a good 
butter trade but could not fill their orders 
because of lack of cream. 

In September of 1905, the creamery was 
a thing of the past. 

"The failure was no fault of the in- 
stitution or the board of directors. It was 
up-to-date and produced the best butter to 
be bought in the state, but it was not 
properly patronized by the public, some of 
whom predicted its failure from the start 
and seemed to vie with each other in an 
effort to verify their prediction." 

In September of 1905, the Creamery 
Package Manufacturing Co. of Chicago 
purchased the creamery machinery and 
shipped it to Chicago. The building was 
sold to the village for a calaboose (jail). 
Many people all the farmers and many 
people in town kept a cow or two which 
furnished milk and butter for themselves 
and neighbors. Most also raised poultry so 
they had their own eggs and chickens for 
eating. The community was pretty well 
self-supporting and such tings as 
creamery butter and cold storage meat 
and eggs were looked down upon. Wouldn't 

— 37 — 



those people be surprised today if they 
could see our freezers loaded with frozen 
foods! 

Some citizens of DeLand kept cows on 
purpose to sell milk to their neighbors. The 
writer recalls several Mrs. Margaret 
Ammann, Ellis Reeds, Sherman Parrish, 
Roy Parrish, L.H. Robinson and John 
Muir. The earlier ones required you to 
furnish your own container and come after 
the milk. Later ones bottled the milk and 
delivered it. Then came the time when raw 
milk was considered unsafe, and the stores 
began carrying pasteurized milk furnished 
by neighboring dairies. That ended the era 
of neighborhood sales. Various creamery 
companies sprung up and the farmers 
began selling their cream to them and 
their milk to milk companines that came 
through the country and picked it up. The 
Beatrice Company of Champaign was the 
most important buyer in DeLand. But the 
time came when even that era was past. 
Few farmers now bother with cows and 
like the townsfolk buy these commodities 
at the grocery store. Milk is shipped in to 
such companies as Meadow Gold and 
Holland and delivered over a wide area in 
refrigerated trucks. 

Eggs come from afar (the law now 
requires that they be candled and graded) 
and dressed poultry in the stores come 
from as far away as Louisiana. The days of 
the dairy and poultry farms in this part of 
Illinois is indeed over. 

HARNESS SHOPS 

Everyone who owned a horse needed a 
harness shop to buy and to repair harness 
be he farmer or townsman. They were 
common in the early days. Jim Gessford, 
the long time merchant of such wares has 
already been mentioned as has J.L. Reed 
who preceded him in the Corder building. 
Others were Barry Meeks who occupied a 
building in the park area which one is 
unknown. His sign was interesting. It 
Read: 

"Bury Meeks, Harness maker" 

A Mr. Marr also sold harness. Location 
unknown. 



WAGONS, IMPLEMENTS 
AND WOODWORKING 

These businesses were of importance in 
the early days because sending away for 
such things or going to another town to buy 
them and getting them home was ex- 
pensive and unhandy. Mr. J.E. Bickel, who 
had come from Germany not long before 
he came to DeLand, had learned wood- 
working in the old country and continued 
the craft here. His prime work was on 
wagons and carriages which were in 
demand. Before Bickel came, Mr. Merry 
had a woodshop in what is now the park. 
When Bickel arrived in 1877, he rented 
Merry's shop until he decided whether he 
wanted to remain here. When he decided to 
stay, he bought the shop and was at this 




Bickel implement building built on site of 
Vail building. 

location when the park area buildings 
burned in 1888. Bickel set up busines in his 
barn at home until he could rebuild, and he 
retained the site until Miss Bondurant 
bought it for the park in 1911. 

Mr. Bickel, who sometime in the early 
1900's had taken up the new and upcoming 
implement business decided to continue 
that occupation in another location. Early 
in 1914, the Vail building on the corner 
across from the park to the northeast had 
burned. Mr. Bickel bought this site and 
built a modern brick building for his im- 
plement building and ran it with his son 
Harry until his death. Harry continued the 
business for some time. When the estate 
was settled the building was sold. 

Jim Trigg ran an appliance store there 
for some years. The present occupant is 
Madden and Trigg insurance. Jim Trigg 
oversees that and also has a casket display 
room in the rear since he is the local un- 
dertaker. Later the locker plant was added 
to the rear of the building by Howard 
(Brickey) Dresback. 

The owners of the locker at the present 
time are Louis Kallembach, Jr. and Karl 
Ray Norton. Since they butcher meat and 
freeze and sell it for farmers as well as 
some townspeople, this would certainly be 
a farm related industry. 

Mr. John Bickel was noted for his 
caskets which he made as they were 
needed. It was almost the turn of the 
century before the town had a regular 
undertaker. There seemed to be a hearse 
in existence before that. People were not 
embalmed then and so there was no need 
for a trained undertaker. When Mr. Bickel 
had finished with the casket, Mrs. Bickel 
lined it and at one period in this time, the 
girls of the Methodist Epworth League 
took over the task of lining the graves with 
white muslin and sprigs of evergreen. So 
while funerals were not then the fine af- 
fairs of today, the dead were laid away 
with much thoughtfulness, love and ten- 
derness. 

There were several other wood working 
shops in DeLand in the early days in- 
cluding one ran by Mr. Van Vickel, a local 
carpenter, who had a small shop on the 
main street just north of the railroad and 
on the property of the Lumber Company. 
Fred Haines, too, was a woodworker. 
When the Bowher garage was built, a 
small building was moved to the back and 
south facing 3rd Street which Haines used. 



(I think this had previsouly been used for 
the same purpose). Later Haines had his 
shop behind the Tilson (Cathcart) 
blacksmith shop. Haines previously had 
done woodworking in the Bickel shop. 
Gaylord Madden is today's wood worker. 
He makes beautiful furniture in the 
basement of his home as a hobby. 

After Mr. Bickels death, Wilson Webb 
and son, Clarence, took over the selling of 
implements in a brick building which still 
stands at the corner of Main and 4th. 
Garages also occupied this building 
D.A. Headlee for one. But today it is 
vacant. 

TURKEY AND GOOSE FARMS 

Most farms in Goose Creek township 
raise grain. A few also feed cattle and 
hogs. But interest in farms raising fowl 
developed about 1914. Interest in a goose 
farm stemmed from such a farm in the 
Mansfield area. Frank Morgan decided to 
try it. Where he got the geese, the paper 
does not say but they came in on a freight 
and were unloaded at Combes Switch. 
Threr were 1800 of them which Morgan 
unloaded and marched like a small army 
several abreast in a 16 foot wide column 
down the road for a quarter of a mile to his 
farm. There he put them in a pasture, 
fattened them for several weeks and 
shipped them to eastern markets. People 
who saw them march down the road found 
it an unusual and interesting sight. 

Mr. Wm. Doss had a turkey farm at one 
time on the farm where Donald Huisinga 
now lives. Most of the turkeys were housed 
on the west side of the road and were a 
colorful sight for person passing by on 
their way to Monticello. 

AND A BEE farm: 

For many yearsJVillard Smith wholived 
south of town raised bees as a sideline to 
his farming. He started out in 1919 with one 
hive. Found it interesting and profitable. 
So he built up his business and by 1929 he 
had 35 hives of three tiers each and with 
glass sides. He sold honey and beeswax 
and made wax figures by molds. He 
displayed these here and there and won 
many first places for his displays at the 
State Fair each year. He continued with 
this until he moved away from here in the 
fifties or sixties and may have continued it 
afterwards. He is now deceased. Willard 
was a director of Kentuck school for many 
years and sang in the Plowboys Quartette, 
a group of singers from the Kentuck 
Neighborhood who were very popular. 

DELAND HAD AN INVENTOR 

In 1911, Louie BoUenbach was successful 
in securing a patent on an attachment for a 
cornplanter. It was a very simple con- 
trivance which could be attached by two 
bolts to any corn planter so that the driver 

— 38 — 



could raise his marker with the same 
operation of lifting the planter shoe 
without getting off the planter. It weighed 
about six pounds, was strong and durable 
(the inventor claimed it would outwear 
three planters) and it could be attached in 
a few minutes He hoped to sell it for about 
$4. Mr. BoUenbach who had been working 
in J.E. Bickel's blacksmith shop for about 
six years planned on spenidng part of his 
time making the attachment although he 
would sell the patent if he could get a 
sufficient price and then take a royalty on 
the sale and manufacture. 

How this all came out is unknown. He 
later moved away from here and there was 
no follow-up in the newspapers. 

NON-FARMING BUSINESSES 

In the block of Highway avenue bet- 
ween Railroad avenue and Second Street, 
there were early business establishments, 
some of which have been mentioned. On 
the west side of the street were the Porter 
grain office, the Langdon post office 
building, the Rinehart general store, the 
Bickel wagon business and woodshop, J.E. 
Reed's harness shop, and Dillavou's 
blacksmith shop. All but the first two were 
consumed in the 1888 fire. The Rinehart 
store was not rebuilt, and the first two 
mentioned were moved. The ones that 
were rebuilt later gave way to the park. On 
the east side of the street at the back of the 
lot behind the present Manning house was 
a livery stable, a shop on the same place 
near the front (part of the foundation is 
still there between Mannings and Mrs. 
Rudisills a bakery run by Will McBrides 
in a two story building on the same site as 
the Carnegie Library of today, and another 
Livery Stable across the alley where the 
Jones residence stands. The bakery 
building was also used as living quarters 
at times, but other uses are unknown to us. 
Livery stables were another much 
needed business. While the train carried 
most of the travel business, both Mon- 
ticello and Farmer City were hard to get to 
unless one had a horse and buggy. 
Traveling slaesmen especially, needed a 
way to get from Deland to those towns as 
did DeLand people who did not own their 
own transportation. 

Two livery stables mentioned in the 
1890's. The location of both are unknown 
although they may have been the later 
H.T. Paugh stable. 

"Nov. 1895 — Willis McKean succeeds 
Frank Merritt in the livery business." 

"Dec. 1898 Samuel Smallwood sold his 
livery barn to Mr. Johnston and m.oved to 
Weldon." 

In 1903 H.T. Paugh moved to DeLand 
from Monticello, rented the house which 
formerly stood where Ross Manning's now 
stands and leased the livery stable behind 
it from E. J. Edwards who had been 
running it and set up business. 

'Mr. Paugh will be at the service of the 
public and attend to traveling men bet- 




:fSf*'-'itt^^L,~'s-- i: 



H.T. Paugh's Livery Stable 



ween this city and Lodge, Weldon, Farmer 
City, Monticello, or any intermediate 
point. Mr. Paugh should receive the hearty 
support of our citizens, as a good livery 
barn is a longfelt want in this city." 

iMr. Paugh ran the livery stable for a 
number of years. He drove "broncos" 
mostly and had numerous vehicles for 
hire. One was a "hack" (with a number of 
seats which could be used to take several 
people and was used to go to such things as 
the Fourth of July celebrations at Mon- 
ticello; to the Opera at Monticello (the 
present Community House at Monticello) 
was the Opera house and took up the space 
now used by the Allerton Library. They 
had good and frequent playes there). The 
year of the Pledger revival meetings in 
Monticello, Mr. Paugh took a load every 
night. 

There were two other livery stables in 
DeLand that we know of. Garland B. 
Eubanks built one in 1904 across the alley 
and at the north end of the block. It stood 
there until it burned believed to be about 
1919 although no account of the fire has 
been found. Mr. Eubank had moved to 
Iowa but his son still lived here. 

The third stable was a part of the sales 
barn just north of Cathcart's blacksmith 
shop which burned in 1930. 

Had you walked north on Main street on 
the west side from the Bickel blacksmith 
shop to the creed in the early I900's you 
would have passed what is now the 
Tribune building, a row of frame buildings 
housing Gates barbershop, Woodcock's 
meat market, a small building that may 
have contained a plumbing shop at the 
time, the telephone office, a barbershop, 
Conner's store, the postoffice and the First 
National Bank. Crossing 3rd street you 
would have walked past the State Bank, 
Doc Walker's office, his home, J.N. 
Rodman's house, and across 4th street 
Tilson's blacksmith shop and the 
calaboose. 



Coming back on the east side of the 
street you'd pass south of 4th street, two 
houses, a small woodworking shop, the 
Chamberlain building, 3rd street, three 
tile buildings housing a hardware store. 
Hurst general store, Gantz' general store, 
a frame building housing either a barber 
shop or a meat shop, Trigg's furniture 
sotre, Gessford's harness shop, a doctor's 
office, and a double frame building 
housing a grocery store (Dresback's) and 
Vail's drug store. 

These were the buildings that stood 
there before the fires and one set of their 
occupants. I shall refer to them as they are 
above as I recount the other businesses 
that they had previously housed or that 
they were afterwards to house. I do not 
know every establishment that there was, 
but will list what I do know. 

THE TRIBUNE 

Today's Tribune building was built by 
Henry Gessford for store and living 
quarters as has been reported. Sub- 
sequently, following Gessford were two 
general stores owned by a Mr. Highfill and 
W. E. Adams. Later a Mrs. Morrow had a 
millinery store there. The bank used it 
once for a temporary home and the Odd 
Fellows used it for awhile. It has now 
housed the plant of the local paper for 
many years. 

DeLand has had a weekly newspaper 
most of the time since 1896 when the 
January 23rd county paper announced that 
a new plant for a newspaper was being 
placed in DeLand. It was located on the 
second floor of the new corner tile building 
on the east side. Storer and Hanley were 
proprietors. C.E. Storer was publisher and 
Mrs. G. Hanley editress. The paper was 
called The DeLand Argus. (We have a 
dilapidated copy of the first issue at the 

— 39 — 



library.) It published until Octobers, 1896 
when it failed to appear one week, in- 
dicating that it was in trouble. It resumed 
the next week but changed management in 
March of 1897. The new publisher was 
William West. West's paper didn't last 
long. On April 18th, the county reporter 
declared the DeLand paper dead and 
buried, "Sheriff Ment shipped the press to 
Chicago as the last officiating rites." 

In September of 1897, the Tribune put out 
its first issue. Said the reporter: "The 
Tribune is all right, but is too good for the 
limited field such a paper can cover. The 
town is all right, too, but not big enough to 
support such a paper as its people want." 

But the townspeople thought otherwise, 
especially the business men who believed 
the town needed a newspaper and could 
have one. When the Tribune also had 
trouble, in September of 1898 a syndicate 
of business men bought it and planned on 
taking turns putting it out. Luther Cox, the 
station agent, was appointed to be 
responsible for one year. 

In November, the printers went on 
strike! John Murphy of Monticello came 
over to help Cox and Dilatush out of their 
trouble and stayed, moving his family here 
in 1900. In 1903. J. Bruce Rinehart was 
publisher and L.W. Watterson, editor. 

Editorialof August 28th, 1903: "With this 
issue, the paper begins its seventh year. 
We have a cleaner office, a better class of 
advertising and job work than the in- 
stitution has ever had. We have worked 
hard for these things and now we have 
them. We extend a cordial invitation to the 
public to come in and see us, and if you are 
not a subscriber, hasten to become one. We 
thank the public for its liberal patronage 
and will endeavor to merit a continuance 
of the same." 

In 1903, they enlarged their reporting 
area. They began printing news from 
adjoining school districts and neighboring 
towns. The news was varied. Not only 
items were given in the locals column 
about people visiting and going here and 
there, but they reported corn cribs com- 
pleted, someone burying 75 heads of 
cabbage, the making of 25 gallons of kraut, 
the building of a pigpen, and the death of a 
pet cat "Grover" from old age. These in 
addition to the news about churches, 
schools, lodges, the town board doings, 
births, deaths and weddings. 

The plant had been moved a couple of 
times up to this time but the locations 
could not be identified except "The 
Tribune" became the local post office. 

•THE DELAND TRIBUNE " 

In July of 1905, J S. Murphy purchased 
the paper from J.B. Rinehart, becoming 
the editor and publisher with his son, 
Raymond as his assistant. Mr. Murphy 
kept the paper until his death in 1918. He 
was struck by a car as he crossed the 
street on his way back to the office after 





The DeLand Tribune about 1910. Mr. John 
Murphy, editor. Son Raymond — later 
editor. Notice the motorcycle — one of the 
first in DeLand. 

meeting the early morning train as was his 
custom. His son became the editor and his 
wife, Margaret, became the pubhsher. 
Raymond's wife Ersa, became his 
assistant, and several local people have 
worked there, helping to gather news and 
doing necessary tasks. Stew Chaney 
assisted for quite some time. 

In 1910, the paper was moved from 
above the hardware store to its present 
location. At that time, it had two large 
glass windows. About 1940, the Murphys 
gave the old building a new face and the 
interior was rearranged some and 
redecorated. 

In 1954, after the Tribune had been in the 
Murphy family for 54 years and associated 
with if for 61 years, Raymond Murphy 
decided to retire. He sold it to T.W. and Ed 
W. Fisher who publishes it today. 
Sometime along the way. Murphy 
acquired the Weldon Record, which he also 
sold to the Fishers. 

The DeLand Tribune has a bound file of 
the papers from 1920 to today. At one time 
they had a great stack of older papers 
which they hoped to have bound, but when 
the last big paper drive of World War II 
was held, they decided to sacrifice them. 
The writer of this history later became the 
local librarian and bemoaned the fact that 
they did not give the old papers to the 
library. One day, while putting in a new 
press. Murphy found boxes of many of the 
old papers up against the wall. He 
promptly donated them to the Librarian. 
She has filed them at the Library and they 
have been of great help to her in her 
research for this history. The Library now 
has the Tribune from 1902 to the present 
time except parts of 1906, 1908, all of 1907 
and stray missing copies. Because these 
papers are very brittle, she has made a file 
of her notes from the Tribune and the 
county papers from 1872 through 1901 
which can be used for what most people 
want. Using the file will help preserve 
these valuable old papers. 

The row of frame buildings on the west 
side were destined to be burned out the 
three northern ones in 1914, the other five 
in 1926. 

Beginning with the Gates building which 
was separated from the Tribune by a 
vacant lot was at first a barber shop run by 
William McBride or at least he is the first 



Deland Tribune today and the Firehouse. 



we know about. A Mr. Griffith also had a 
barber shop there and possibly several 
others before C. B. Gates. Gates added 
living quarters to the building and in- 
stalled a confectionery. About 1914 or 15, 
Dr. T.A. Baumann bought the building and 
occupied it while he practiced here. He 
owned it at the time of the fire. Dr. Lowery 
also had his office and living quarters in 
the building. At the time of the fire a new 
restaurant had just opened the night 
before. The second building was first 
occupied by John Ammann Sr. with a boot 
and shoe shop. Ammann was the father of 
the late John Ammann, grandfather of 
Irene Honselman and Esther Floyd. He 
and his wife whose name was Margaret, 
lived in the house now owned by Clarence 
and Anora Smith. Other occupations in the 
building were Mr. Woodcook's meat 
market and Miss Alda Windell's hat store, 
Keller's meat market, and Earl Hayes' 
plumbing. E.T. McMillen had just moved 
his insurance office into hits building when 
it burned. Earl Hayes had moved his 
plumbing equipment to the back of the 
shop for storage until he found another 
location They were able to save most of it 
which was fortunate because he had no 
insurance. 

A small building north of the above 
building was occupied at the time of the 
fire by the Pioneer Creamery. It had been 
used over the years for a plumbing shop, a 
restaurant, an insurance office. 

The Peacock restaurant where the fire 
started has previously housed the 
telephone office and John Motherspaw's 
restaurant. The Motherspaws lived up- 
stairs. After they moved the office, the 
building was used for a succession of 
restaurants Charlie McKinley, Aleck 
Ahlrich, John Hanrahan and undoubtedly 
others. The building was owned by Jon 
Bickel. 

A small building between the telephone 
building and Conners was usually occupied 
by a barber shop although I believe it was 
originally built for a millinery shop run by 
Alzina Marsh - later Mrs. Robert Dillon. 
It burned in 1914, owned then by C. B. 
Gates and occupied by Wachob's barber 
shop. 

The Conner building was built quite 
early and was first occupied by J.H. 



40- 



Rankin. I suppose there were other stores 
in it over the years but I do not have that 
information. I know that there were two 
families that had their homes in it before 
Conner established his sotre. The building 
was built by J. A. Campbell for Henry Van 
Vickel who sold it to Rankin. 

The postoffice building was erected in 
the spring of 1889 by T.E. Bondurant. 
Businesses which had occupied it 
previously were a drug store run by Elmer 
Cunningham; the Tribune Office; the First 
National Bank temporarily and then by 
D.B. Troxel who moved the postoffice 
there in 1902. Troxel also had a stationery 
store, sold school books and in a back room 
had pianos for sale. Mr. Campbell and J.F. 
Dresback did the carpenter work on this 
building. 




First post office built by Seth Langdon. 
Now a scale house on a Trenchard farm. 



THE POST OFFICE 

One of the most important businesses of 
any town is the postoffice. It is BIG 
business in our country and good post- 
masters are essential to our happiness as 
well as to our welfare. 

The postoffice at DeLand was 
established about a month after the town 
was laid out. Seth Langdon, the man of 
many firsts, was the first postmaster. He 
built a small building in the present park 
block mentioned before for a store and 
postoffice. John Vail was the second 
postmaster and moved the office into one 
of his buildings. From then on, for a 
number of years the job was monopolized 
by these two. Seth Langdon was a 
Republican and reigned whenever there 
was a Republican administration. Vail 
was a Democrat and when a Democratic 
president was elected, he took his turn. It 
was a true "spoils" system job. At one 
time the postoffice was mentioned as 
having been moved to the Rinehart 
building. Rinehart was never the post- 
master but he may have been the assistant 
and since Langdon was buying corn it 
might have been more convenient in the 
Rinehart store. 

Several interesting items showed up in 
the papers. In 1885 it was announced that 
the postoffice was out of postcards! It i 
seems that when they needed a new ^ 
postmaster, the local citizens voted on the 
candidates if there was more than one. On 
Feb. 14, 1889, "Quite a lively interest was 



taken in the election of a postmaster, 
Saturday evening, there being three 
candidates: S.C. Langdon, Etta McFadden 
and E.S. Cunningham. Mr. Langdon got a 
majority of one on the 7th ballot." 

Feb. 1893 "Oh, that coveted prize 
the DeLand postoffice!" 

January 1893 "The Republicans of this 
township have concluded to turn the 
postoffice department of this place over 
the boss Democrat of the township 
(Vail), who has now donned the Columbian 
style of dress with knee pants and big 
brass buckels." ( 1893 was the year of the 
Columbian Exposition in Chicago.) 

October 23, 1893 - "Our old time- 
honored Democratic friend, John Vail, on 
last Saturday eve just after daylight had 
faded, marched into the postoffice and in 
the night time, he and Seth Langdon 
moved it to Vail's drug store where we now 
go for our mail." 

Hut in 1897, both Vail and Langdon were 
out of the postoffice. The position was 
declared vacant and was yearned for by 
eight local people. D.B. Troxel was the 
successful candidate, winning over Miss 
Frona Bowsher by five votes. The other 
candidates were Joel Rinehart, J.B. 
Garver, S.C. Langdon, Amos Dillavou, J. 
Kimer. and W.H. McBride. 

The paper described Troxel as an un- 
married Republican about 30 years old 
who had come here as a lad and stayed 
with his aunt, Mrs. Moody. He received his 
education in DeLand schools, was 
proficient in music having studied a year 
at Wesleyan, was the leader of DeLand's 
cornet band and Glee club. 

"He is a young man of exemplary habits 
and good clerical ability and will make a 
good postmaster." He received his ap- 
pointment from the government in August 
1897. 

And he did make good. He was post- 
master until his death in 1928. Mr. Troxel 
married Effie Osborne, the daughter of a 
local Methodist minister, who stayed on 
after her father's move to another place 
and taught in the grade school. They had 
five children, Moneta, Russell, Shirley, 
Wilma, and Osborne. Osborne died when 
young but the other four grew up and were 
as talented as their parents. They have all 
made good. None live here. Moneta's 
married name is Soper. 

In April 1902. postal authorities warned 
tiiat mail not belonging to you was to be 
returned to the postoffice or you were 
likely to be fined $200. 

In February of 1902 Rural Free Delivery 
began. The postmaster was notifed that 
Patrons on the route would begin receiving 
their mail on March 1st. The local route 
was 201.. miles in length and was to be 
served by J.B. Souders as carrier He had 
prepared for the work by purchasing an 
up to-date regulation vehicle and horse. 
After two months of rural delivery, a 
summary was furnished by postmaster 
Troxel. Total pieces collected and 
delivered were 8814; Delivered 373 



letters, 298 postcards, 885 circulars, 279 
packages. Collected — 17 money order 
applications; 884 letters; 55 postcards; 5 
newspapers; 16 packages, and 2 registered 
pieces. The postmaster urged the patrons 
to keep roads in good condition and the 
boxes clear of drifts. It was NOT the 
carrier's duty to break roads after storms. 

In 1903, the routes were increased to two- 
totaling 48' - miles. Willis McKean became 
the other carrier. On the two routes were 
18,') houses, a population of 833 and an area 
of 2?) square miles. 

In 1914. the post office had a little ex- 
citement. They were accustomed to crying 
dolls at Christmas, and peeping chickens 
at Easter, but a package that ticked'' 
Fortunately it turned out to be a clock. 

On January 1, 1915, D.B. Troxel received 
his re-appointment. He had recently taken 
an examination and was waiting to receive 
the results before rebuilding the building 
last in the fire of December 1914. 




Inside post offiie that burned in l!tl 1. Mr. 
Troxel, Kol Bickel and Mabel Rodman. 



In 1917, after the start of World War I, 
the post office became a recruiting station, 
and postmasters of the future would be 
required to take an examination. 

The new building, now a restaurant, was 
finished and admired by a representative 
of the Bloomington Fantagraph who wrote 
as follows: 

"The stranger who visits the post Office in 
DeLand is much struck with the neat 
appearance of the place where Uncle Sam 
transacts his business. D.B. Troxel, the 
postmaster, has installed steel office 
furniture finished to resemble Mahogany. 
Even the call and lock boxes are of steel. 
Mr. Troxel and his carriers have 
developed a high state of efficiency in 
handling the mail. Mr. Troxel has evolved 
a system whereby incoming mail is 
quickly distributed to the boxes and the 
carriers. Most rural carriers have boxes 
corresponding to those along the route, but 
the DeLand men make up their mail on a 
table which allows them to handle it less 
and more quickly." 

In April of 1928, Mr. Troxel died. Mrs. 
Troxel had been the clerk for sometime 
and she carried on as acting postmaster 
until K J Murphy's appointment in 1929. 

During Mr Troxel's tenure, the class of 
the post office was changed from fourth to 

— 41 — 



third. He served through Democratic 
President Wilson's term of office, passing 
the examination with high honors. 

Mr. Murphy was one of three candidates 
for the job. His appointment was for four 
years. In 1933 another examination was 
held and there were thirteen candidates 
who sought the post; Donna Reid. Pearl 
Barnes, J C. Doyle, WE. Leischner, 
LeIandChaney, Bertha Turnipseed, Mabel 
Walker, and James Hewitt were eight of 
them. Mr. Murphy was not a candidate. 
The eligibility list for those having the 
highest grades were Leischner, Mrs. 
Walker and Doyle. Mr. Leischner was 
appointed. 

Mrs. R.J. Murphy, who had been the 
retiring postmaster's assistant, remained 
for a few weeks to show the new post- 
master the work. (Mr. Leischner was a 
farmer and drove back and forth to this 
work.) When Murphy assumed his post- 
mastership, DeLand was getting mail four 
times a day by train. After the train ser- 
vice was reduced there were two mails a 
day and a locked pouch. When the I.C. 
service was discontinued, two Star routes 
were established, extending the service to 
six mails a day. 

Ed Leischner was postmaster a little 
over a year, dying in late October of 1935. 

Earl Shannon was appointed acting 
postmaster until an examination could be 
held and a postmaster appointed The 
candidates eligible for the postal job were 
announced in April. They were all women: 
Bertha Turnipseed, Pearl Barnes and 
Hazel Williams. Pearl Barnes was ap- 
pointed and served from 1940 till Jan. 1, 
I9(i:i. 

She then resigned and took up her for- 
mer profession of teaching. Mrs. 
Henrietta Leischner was acting post- 
master until an examination was held and 
then became postmaster. She still holds 
the post and Grace Mullvain is her 
assistant. 

Miss Barnes celebrated her 25th an- 
niversary in the post office in 1961. Postal 
receipts had tripled in those twenty-five 
years and lock boxes increased in number 
irom 200 to 226. She served under the 
administrations of four presidents: 
Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower and 
Kennedy. She had the pleasure of meeting 
one postmaster general, Jim Farley, at a 
convention at Rockford. 

Somewhere along the line, the rural 
carrier routes had been cut to one With 
the automobile, one man could handle 
twice mileage. George Loncy was rural 
Carrier. When he retired, his son Richard 
succeeded him and is carrier today. Like 
all the postmasters Pearl remembers the 
cheeping chicks and often delivered them 
rather than leave them in the post office 
over night. She also recalls that about 
three times a year, she had shipments of 
bees for WW Smith. She also recalls the 
laundry bags that regularly arrived from 
students away at school. And one time she 
sent a rat in a mail pouch to Weldon. She 



had left the pouch on the floor and it was 
dispatched with no warning that the rat 
had invaded the pouch. The postmaster at 
Weldon received quite a start when she 
opened the bag and the rat jumped out. 

When Mrs. Troxel left the post office and 
moved away, she sold her building to Bob 
Barr for a restaurant. The post office was 
moved (In the 30's) to the old National 
Bank building where it is now. In 1960, this 
building, which is owned by the Masons, 
was remodeled. Included in the 
remodeling were lowered ceilings, a 
change in the entrance, new fixtures and 
new boxes. 

Mrs. Leischner is the wife of E.E. 
Leischner of DeLand. They have four 
grown children, all married. Only 
Edward lives here. The happenings since 
she became postmaster are the addition of 
the Zip code, the changes that have taken 
place because of the new set up in post 
office management by the government: 
shorter hours, the closing of the office on 
Saturdays and fewer mails. On Saturday, 
the carrier goes his route as usual. Three 
long time carriers over the years were Al 
McKean, Charlie Loney and Charlie 
Conner. 



BANKS 

The first mention of a bank occurred in 
1888. The reporter inquired: "Why can't 
we have a bank'' Our business men are 
greatly inconvenienced for the want of 
one. A great deal of money which properly 
belongs here, we lose by not having a place 
to accommodate the depositors while our 
business men have to do their banking 
through Clinton, Farmer City, Monticello 
or Champaign. Not only would it benefit 
the whole community but also the one 
engaging in business." 

Evidently the agitation for a bank did 
some good as two years later an item 
read: "The bank was a failure Tuesday 
morning owing to the lock being set 
Monday evening for two days making it 
impossible to open the safe before Wed- 
nesday morning." 

This was a bank opened by a firm of 
Swigart and Son. In 1890 the Tilson 
Blacksmith was moved from the corner of 
Highway and 3rd to make room for the new 
bank. Whether they had temporary 
quarters while building the new building is 
not known. It was a two story brick 
building and was in use until 1902 when it 
burned. 

In 1896 Swigart's sold the bank to John 
Kirby and Co. with R.B. Moody as cashier. 
Henry Dilatush also was cashier or 
assistant in one of these banks. The rooms 
above the bank were fitted up for the Odd 
Fellows and other societies. This bank was 
the beginning of the State Bank. When they 
decided in 1901 to remodel to have more 
commodious quarters, they had tem- 
porary quarters in the Highfill building, 
(present Tribune) Remodeling included 
tearing out the vault to give more floor 





Two former banks, now lodge halls and 
post office. 

space and installing a new safe. 

On Feb. 14, 1902, the building burned. 
The fire was discovered at 2 o'clock in the 
morning. It was believed to have started 
from a fireplace at the east end. An in- 
teresting sidelight — George Hursh, 
assistant cashier of the National Bank 
across the street, slept during the week in 
a room behind the bank. The fire was so 
hot the firefighters kept wet blankets over 
the windows of that building to keep them 
from breaking. Mr. Hursh slept through it 
all. 

The bank set up temporary quarters at 
the L.B. Hurst store the next day and then 
moved into the Chamberlain building 
across the street to the East. The work on 
the new building began May 1st. It was 
made of brick, and was two stories each 60 
by 24 feet. The east and south sides were 
faced with dark red brick. The firm moved 
into it in September. The State Bank 
continued until 1924 when the bank closed 
because of frozen assets. The National 
bank which was in good condition in spite 
of the depression that year, took over the 
deposits of the closed bank. The 
stockholders of the National Bank 
voluntarily assumed a 50 per cent 
assessment on their stock to raise the 
money to liquidate the frozen assets of the 
State bank. 

The National Bank was established in 
1901 with Mr. Bondurantas president. The 
bank building was built on the corner 
across south of the State Bank. Today it is 
the postoffice. The Chenoweth building 
was moved a block north and later razed. 
The First National Bank of DeLand was 
completed in October with G.R. Trenchard 
as cashier and G.R. Hursh assistant. The 
board of directors included John Kirby, 
John Leischner, W. Kirkland, I.L. 
Rinehart, J.N. Rodman, Otto Lubbers, 
J.W. Warner, and H.L. Gilmore. 

The National bank weathered the 
depressions of the thirties as well as that of 
24. About 1936, the company decided to go 
out of business, and voluntarily liquidated 
its assets. The National Bank of Monticello 
took over most of these and there was no 
loss from its closing. The stock paid out 
above par. This left DeLand without a 
bank but G.R. Madden stepped in and 
opened a currency exchange which was a 
big help to the community. The currency 

— 42 — 



Present State Bank 



exchange operated for nine years. 

In June of 1945 a meeting was held 
preparatory to organizing a new bank as 
the community felt the need for one. In 
July the stock was sold. Permission had 
been granted by the banking department 
of the State's Auditor's office. It was called 
the DeLand State Bank. It had a capital 
stock of $30,000, surplus $6,000 and reserve 
fund of $3,000. It was located in the old 
State bank building and the Madden and 
Trigg Insurance company which occupied 
it with the Exchange moved to the present 
building. Nine directors were elected as 
follows; W.B. Trenchard, P.E. Fonner, 
P.E. McBride, H.J. Huisinga, and L.D. 
Swartz. Gaylord Madden was to be 
cashier. The bank, having received its 
charter, opened for business in September 
1945. 

In 1962, a new modern brick building was 
built about the middle of the business block 
on the east side. It contains several con- 
ference rooms besides the business part of 
the bank and lobby and vault. There is also 
a drive up window. The present capital is 
now $54,000; Surplus - 146,000; and 
Reserve of 6,000. The totals are nearly 
three and one half million dollars. 

Gaylord Madden is president of the 
board and chairman is Wendell Tren- 
chard. Other members of the board are 
P.E. Fonner, Neil Madden, Lindell 
Huisinga, Lyle Swartz, Richard Gantz, 
and Don Hermann. 

Neil Madden is cashier. Joan Manning 
and Lu McBride are assistants. 

Al'TOMOBILES REQUIRED GARAGES 

The Smith garage of today was built by 
Cooper Bowsher and run by him until his 
death. His brother Cecil was in business 
with him and continued for awhile after 
Coop's death. He sold to Clarence Smith 
who has now been in business for himself 
there for 34 years. Smith worked for 
Bowshers from 1919 to 1936. Coop Bowsher 
also built the building to the south for the 
local electric light plant. 

The Bowshers were the first automobile 
agency in town. Who owned the first 
automobile is not known. An item in the 
newspaper mentioned a young man, but I 
have been unable to find his name. And Dr. 
McDeed, who practiced in DeLand from 
1904 to 1907 was "noted for his high 
wheeled Holtzman automobile whose 



troubles were numerous." "The hor- 
sepower was uncertain, the spark plugs 
more so. but Mac pioneered with high 
wheels and deserves the credit " 

But interest in automobiles did not really 
begin here until about 1908. To begin with, 
people didn't seriously believe that 
automobiles would ever be practical 
enough to displant the good old horse and 
buggy They couldn't travel in mud or 
snow of which the area had plenty, and 
they would always be breaking down. You 
couldn't fix them with a piece baling wire 
as you could a buggy and corn was cheaper 
than gasoline. Folks laughed and pointed 
when an auto passed and shouted "Get a 
horse! " 

But by September of 1908. the village 
boasted four automobiles with good 
prospects of more before snow flew. The 
craze had certainly struck DeLand. I.C. 
Bowsher, George Hursh and Smith 
Wisegarver arrived in town one Friday 
almost covered with dust from their 250 
mile trip from the factory at Kenosha. 
Wisconsin each with a Rambler Touring 
car. Excuses for not getting a car were 
many. "Can't afford it," "Couldn't run one 
if I had it." Cooper Bowsher took the 
agency for the Rambler and after a trip to 
Indianapolis to inspect the Overland car. 
took the agency for it also. It was then that 
he decided to build the garage. 

On the site of the woodworking shop he 
built a concrete building 40 by 60 feet, one 
story high. The building had many visitors 
as it went up. It was the first building of its 
kind both in material and use. Elder and 
Mansfield did the concrete block work. It 
was practically fireproof. It was well 
lighted having several windows including 
a large plate glass front. There was room 
for about fifteen cars. He installed a 
gasoline engine to run a dynamo to 
generate to light the building and furnish 
power to run a pump, a vulcanizer, an air 
pump for filling tires and other machinery 
that might be added later 

The fifth machine was a Northern owned 
by Arwine Reed. Later in 1909. three more 
ramblers were sold bringing the total to 
eight. E.E. Reed. G R Trenchard and 
V.G. Stephenson succumbed to the craze. 
Trenchard. Stephenson and George Hursh 
made the trip to Kenosha for these cars. 
Three experts drove the autos home. 

In December, Howard Kahler went to 
Kenosha to take his Rambler there for 
repairs. He got it as far as Wilmington on 
the trip home before the roads stopped 
him He left it there until spring. 

The automobile fever resulted in the 
Championship for tennis going by default 
to Porter and Rinehart. It seems that 
McMillen and Bowsher, the other team, 
had not time for tennis as McMillen had 
automobile fever and he and Bowsher 
went to Kenosha for another Rambler at a 
critical point in the game' 

l.W. Gantz bought a Rambler m 1909. 
The writer had her first ride in an 
automobile when Marie took her Sunday 



School class in it to the woods for a picnic. 
The Gantz car arrived here after many 
difficulties. Bowsher and J.C. Bickel went 
after it. On the road home they en- 
countered mud. ran out of gas four miles 
from a town and had to walk to get more to 
get the car into Joliet. By that time they 
were out of funds so they wired home for 
money which was sent but they had no 
identification and the bank there refused 
them the money. Finally they got into 
communication with a friend nearby who 
came to their rescue. They left the car 
there, came home by train and went back 
the next week to get it. It had taken a week 
to get the car here and delivered. 

J.L. Parrish bought a Cadillac in June of 
1909 which was the 25th car in DeLand. 
And so the car craze continued. Cars 
became so common that people no longer 
rushed to the window to see whose car was 
passing by. And complaints began to roll 
in. The autos went too fast ( the speed limit 
on Main street was 15 miles an hour) and 
they were dangerous. And my how they did 
roll up the dust! Most of the complaints 
came from south of the tracks. Autoists 
began increasing their speed there ( just as 
they do today) and coming into town they 
didn't slow down until they got to the 
tracks (just as they do today). 

Most of the time until they began oiling 
the roads and streets, the automobile was 
useless in the winter time. They were 
usually put up on blocks in the garage and 
barn and stayed there until spring. But the 
weatherman favored the autoist in 1909 
and H). Everyone was able to run his car 
till Christmas time. 




l'iil(>:idiii^ new cars from freight car 
early days. 



The first automobile accident recorded 
was in June of 1909. W.H. Chapin and son 
Dr. C.W. Chapin of Weldon started to 
Weldon with the older man practicing 
driving He lost control of it and ran into a 
ditch, plunging so deeply into mud and 
water that I.C. Bowsher had to be called to 
pull him out. 

The first fatal accident a Mrs. Swigart 
and another woman came to DeLand to 
visit Mrs. John Olson two miles south of 
town Clark Ol.son met them at the train 
with a carriage. At the edge of town the 
horses shied at an auto and ran. Mrs. 
Swigart panicked and jumped. She was 
carried into the home of LB. Hursht where 
she died. 

— 43 — 



A building built by Wilson Webb for an 
implement business after Mr. Bickel died 
has also been used as a garage. It stands at 
the end of the block north of Smith's but is 
vacant now. Adolph Headlee once had a 
garage there. 

A two story frame building which stood 
for years just south of Smith's garage was 
known as the Chamberlain building 
because it housed a general store run by a 
man of that name. It was built in 1877 by a 
Farmer City woman. Mention is made of a 
milliner or two who had shops in it. The 
upper grades of the grade school were 
housed in the upper story for awhile in the 
middle 80's because of crowded conditions 
in the one room school and the State bank 
was housed there following the 1902 fire. 
Someone also said that it was one of the 
buildings where they held school following 
the grade school fire in 1904. It stood 
vacant for many years though used some 
for storage. Smith tore it down in 1943. 

Across the street from Smith's to the 
west is the Rigg's grocery. This building 
was built by Fred Dresback after the fire 
destroyed his grocery in the Vail building 
in 1914. It has always been a grocery. J.H. 
Dresback followed his brother until his 
death and was taken over then by his son 
Richard. Dick ran it until he entered the 
army during World War I. His wife Maxine 
took over the business until after he was 
killed in France and for awhile af- 
terwards. She sold it to Ellis Leischner and 
went to New York to study music. The 
Rigg's - Harold and Margaret have been 
running it for 26 years. 

I believe that Doctor Walker's office, 
now vacant, was built quite awhile before 
1907. Dr. Reid lived in the Walker house 
and undoubtedly used the office building. 
Dr. McDeed probably used it and I know 
that Dr. Marvel did. It may be much older. 
Dr. Harrison who lived north of DeLand is 
said to have moved one of three small 
houses from his farm into DeLand. Ac- 
cording to Dr. McDeed's history of Piatt 
County, that house was still in use in 1931. I 
have found no one who could identify that 
house. The Walker office is of thetype once 
spoken of as Smoke house or Summer 
Kitchens. This building could be the 
Harrison building. 




Dr. Walkers office and Riggs grocery 



In the block now containing the bank and 
the water tower, there were three 
buildings made of tile like that of the 
Christian church. They were built in 1895. 



^ 



•T?- 






•^^-^ /■» 







m A 



*3*^ 



•i 



ED. Carrier and T.C. Haggard built the 
corner building and housed the I.L. 
Kinehart hardware store to begin with. 
Most of the time there was a hardware 
store in the building although when it 
burned in 1933 it housed Hefner's cream 
station. No one seemed to stay in the 
hardware business long. There was a 
succession of firms including Viva 
Stephenson, and E.M. Kerns who was also 
in the contracting firm with his son Arthur. 
The Odd Fellows occupied the second floor 
at the time of the fire. They had been in the 
upper story of the third building but had 
moved to the corner one because the 
Masons, who had been there, had bought 
what is now the Post Office building and 
moved into the second floor of it. After the 
1914 fire the Post Office occupied the 
second floor while the new office was built. 

The middle tile building was built by 
Seymour Marquiss who sold to Otis Vittum 
who resold it about 1900 to Lou Hurst who 
had to move from the Chenowith building 
that the National bank was displacing. 
Hurst had a general store until it burned. 
He used the second floor for storage. 

The third building was built by Dr. Davis 
for his office. (Dr. Davis had moved his 
house to a site across the alley so that the 
three lots could be cleared for the tile 
buildings.) At first it was a one story 
building but it was remodeled and a second 
story added. It housed general stores of 
Henry Gantz and a man named Fuller; 
then Gantz and Dewees; I.W. Gantz and by 
G.A. Keller and others who had meat 
markets in it. The Swartz meat market 
was there at the time of the fire. 

Just south of the tile buildings was an old 
frame building that had been used 
primarily for meat shops and barber 



Majestic Range Demonstration 

shops. Seymour Cathcart was one who had 
a meat market there and he was followed 
by the Wachob's barbershop who were 
burned out in 1914. It had been torn down 
before the 1933 fire. 

TIIK FURNITURE STORE 

The first furniture dealer mentioned was 
W. F. Kerns who opened a furniture store 
in the old one room schoolhouse which had 
been moved to the corner of Main and 
Fourth after the new frame building was 
built. He had evidently been in business 
before that date as he had just received a 
new spring shipment when he moved in. 
Mr. Bondurant, who owned the building, 
moved it to the middle of the block just 
north of where the State Bank sits today 
and just south of the tile buildings. He 
remodeled it and put in a glass front, and 
painted it outside and papered it inside. 
In July of 1892, Mr. Kerns sold his stock 
to Henry Cobb. About the same time, Mr. 
Cobb decided to go into the undertaking 
business and purchased a "fine hearse and 
is now prepared to do practical un- 
dertaking on short notice. This was 
something badly needed as the old outfit 
was hardly safe to be used at all." Who 
took care of the previous burials is not 
known except that Mr. Bickel made the 
caskets. 

Sometime between 1892 and 1902 — 
probably closer to the latter date since 
George Trigg bought a house on East 
Third St. for a residence and moved in 
from the farm — Trigg became a partner 

— 44 — 



in the furniture and undertaking business 
with Cobb. Mr. Trigg took a course in 
undertaking and year later he bought out 
Cobb and became sole owner. He retained 
his business until his death in early 1933. 
His son Charles continued the undertaking 
business and was followed at his death by 
his son James who is DeLand's and 
Weldon's undertaker today. Thus the 
Trigg family has been in that business for 
some 70 years. Another son of George, 
Ivan, also followed in his father's foot- 
steps. The schoolhouse-furniture store was 
destroyed in the 1933 fire shortly after 
George Trigg died but the building was 
used then for storage so the content loss 
was not great. 

The paper at the time of the fire reported 
it to have been the old Hackberry school 
which I believe to be a mistake, as I un- 
derstand it, the Hackberry school was 
west DeLand and was moved to the corner 
two miles west of town from its location at 
what is now Trimble's lane and became 
western. It was the Bondurant school that 
was moved into town. 

Mr. Trigg ran his business with 
imagination. He advertised regularly and 
he often came up with gimmicks that 
called attention to his business. For in- 
stance, once he put a jar of beans in the 
window and offered a prize for the nearest 
guess as to the number of beans. 327 people 
made a guess. Miss Minnie Hayes guessed 
1821. The number was 1815. She was 
awarded a handsome decorated floor 
parlor lamp. But the affair that received 
the greatest amount of interest was the 
annual Majestic Range Demonstration. A 
representative of the company came for a 
week and during that time citizens were 
invited to the store to see the range and eat 



I 



the biscuits with hot coffee that was made 
on the range. Nearly everyone came at 
sometime during the weei< and the kids all 
turned out in full force on a special evening 
after school. Usually a couple of pictures 
were taken and everyone had a good time. 
And Mr. Trigg sold stoves! 

Mr. Trigg also loved a good joke. Lately 
I have heard a story of one demonstration 
week. Tom McMillen came in to eat 
biscuits and enjoy a cup of coffee. 
Someone hurriedly filled a syrup pitcher 
with linseed oil and substituted salt in the 
sugar bowl. But the joke backfired. Tom 
consumed the gastronomical delicacies 
without blinking an eye and never let on 
that a trick was being played on him. 

Mr. Trigg was interested in his 
customers and went to great lengths to 
serve them. When Mr. A. A. Reed built a 
new residence, Mr. Trigg made a trip to 
Chicago with him to pick out furniture and 
carpets for the new home. 

Mr. Trigg had three sons and two 
daughters. Charles and Ivan were the 
undertakers and William a dry goods 
merchant for many years. Eva married 
Kay Mathews and Irene married Gene 
Sparrow. Charles married Lola Bickel of 
DeLand. They have a son, Jim and a 
daughter Charlene Turnipseed of 
Champaign. Jim's wife is the former Elsie 
Crosby. She and his mother assist in the 
two undertaking businesses since 
Charlie's death in 1962. The funeral parlor 
in DeLand had recently an addition made 
to it. It has a lovely air conditioned parlor 
where many funerals are held. They have 
made a name for themselves because of 
their skill in making the person look 
natural. 




Brick buildings today. 



NKW BRICK Bl'ILDINGS 

After the fire in December of 1914, steps 
were taken immediately to rebuild the 
buildings. Arthur Kern and his con- 
struction company received a contract for 
putting them up. The building to the south 
was built for Mrs. Morrow for a millinery 
store. She sold to Lynn Williams who 
started a bakery there. Lynn had it most of 
the time until 19:54 when it burned. A 
firewall between that building and the next 
spared the other five stores. Williams did 
not rebuild and for years there was a 
concrete lined hole that had been the 



bakery basement. 

After someone fell into it a fence was 
erected, but it didn't add to the appearance 
of the business district. Finally, several 
years ago, James Richardson bought the 
lot and rebuilt the building. It has been 
occupied by several persons since in- 
cluding Shirley Fisher, Beauty operator; 
Dick Loney, T.V. Store; and possibly 
others. At present E.E. Leischner has an 
office there for the Roosevelt National Life 
Insurance Co. 

The second building from the south is 
now the Ace Plumbing Supply Co. Before 
that Marlin Miller had a plumbing store 
there. And before that for about fifty 
years. Bill Trigg had a dry goods store 
there. Shortly after the return of Doc 
Fonner from World War I who bought back 
his former store. Bill became his partner 
and opened the drygoods store in what is 
now the laundromat . Later on, he moved to 
the 2nd store building and they started a 
confectionery in the center building. After 
they sold the confectionery called the 
Powder Puff, Trigg and Fonner parted 
company Trigg taking the dry goods 
buisness and Fonner the grocery business. 
Trigg retired about three years ago. 

Before Trigg took the building it was 
occupied by John Motherspaw with a 
restaurant, and A.N. Kerns with a con- 
fectionery and odds and ends store. 

The third building was occupied first by 
Seymour Cathcart's meat market, Trigg, 
Oakley Bros., a woman from Kenney, 
Amlong and Robert Barr, before becoming 
a laundromat. I believe there was a pool 
room there for a while. 

Fonner started the store in the fourth 
building between 1915 and 1917 when he 
was called to the army. He sold it to Jesse 
McBride but bought it back as soon as he 
returned. He retired in 1945 and sold it to 
George Harris. It passed from Harris to 
Murl Meyer, then to Vance Guffey and 
then to Bill Ted Webb. 

Bill Ted sold out and the building was 
vacant for awhile. Mrs. Guffey had a dry 
goods store there. Now Henry Franklin 
has an antique shop there. 

The building that Fonner occupied and 
the one now a laundromat were both built 
for John Conner for a grocery and then 
sold to Fonner. Until the antique shop was 
put in, the building always housed a 
grocery. 

The fifth building was built for D. B. 
Troxel for a postoffice, and the postoffice 
continued there until 1929 when Mrs. 
Troxel (after her husband's death) sold it 
to Robert Barr for a restaurant. It has 
been a restaurant ever since with con- 
siderable change throughout the years. A 
few of those running the restaurants were 
E. E. Leischner, Howard Dresback, Lynn 
Parrish and Dick Smith, Lee Williams, 
and Mary Lu Norton. 

The present owner is Betty Cox (Mrs. 
Harley Cox) of Monticello. They have 



45 



remodeled the building and are now ad- 
ding a dining room that for parties or 
Sunday dinner will seat around 50 diners. 
It is a pleasant place and they serve good 
food. I hope it is patronized enough that 
they will keep it. 

The sixth building was built for Wachob 
for a barber shop. He was followed by 
Sidney Tapscott, James Hewitt, Benny 
Burnett, Howard Chaney and then for 
awhile was used by Jim Trigg for storage 
space for appliances. A few years ago 
Louis Kallembach, Jr. established "The 
Attic" for an art and antique shop. 

Lucille Vaughn also had a beauty shop at 
one time in the back. 




Inside W.G. Trigg's dry good's store. Bill 
and Helen Baker, clerks. 




D.B. Troxel — postmaster. 




T7^m 



Jake Adams on his dray. 




J.Q. Carter — lumberman. 





Mr. and Mrs. John Bickel 
dealer and mayor. 



— implement 



(ieorge Hursh 
Superintendant 



banker and S.S. 




Clyde Porter — grain dealer and Library 
trustee. 



Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Carver — Civil War 
Veteran. 





Or. Wood 



1. 1.. Kinehart — early general store 
— 46 — 




Parley Gantz and Sonny Sprinkle. 




J. Murphy — editor 




C'laudr Jones — evangelistic singer 




Chas. Loney — evangelist singer, minister 
iind postal carrier. 





Rol Bicliel — evangelistic singer 




Mr. and Mrs. Vail — one of first families to 
come. 



Moneta Troxel Soper — missionary 




Mr. and Mrs. George Loney — rural 
carrier. 



Mr. and Mrs. Koy Mulvain 
supervisor. 



— present 



-47 — 



FACTORIES 

Factories have been few and far bet- 
ween. Besides the Tile Factory and the 
Creamery in the early days, there was talk 
of an adjustable harrow factory. Rumor 
had it that a company had been formed 
known as "The DeLand Harrow Com- 
pany." This was in the paper of Feb. 24, 
1877 but was never mentioned again. 
Evidently it didn't even get off the ground. 
In 1904, the editor suggested a corn husk 
factory. The only use that I could figure 
out for corn husks were mattresses. Many 
people used them. They filled the ticking 
covers with cornhusks - preferably broken 
ones, just as you did when making a 
feather bed only you used husks instead of 
feathers. They weren't like inner spring 
mattresses of course but surprisingly, they 
were not uncomfortable, especially if you 
were used to them. 

The corn husk factory was only a 
suggestion and must not have interested 
anyone, for it, too, was unmentioned 
again. 

There were the bakeries, the wagon and 
carriage shops, the woodworking shops 
that might be called factories but they 
were one man concerns. 

Also unmentioned again was Mr. 
Bollenbachs corn planter attachment. 
Whether he made and sold any is not 
known. 

In the I920's we had two factories — a 
garment and a medicine factory. 

MEDICINE FACTORY 

The medicine factory — The Shapley 
Drug company — was set up in 1924 in the 
rooms behind the First National Bank 
(now post office). It made stomach 
medicine mainly and employed a number 
of people. They made other products, too. 
Dr. Baumann once had a display of ten 
products made by the Shapley Co. They 
were: Shapley 's Original Stomach 
medicine; Unguetum; Camphoratum 
Eczema Remedy; Shapley 's Handy corn 
plaster; I-Heal-a tone, the master an- 
tisceptic; I-Heal-a-tone foot powder; 
Commensense Polish; Shapley 's liniment 
for man or beast; Shapley's Liver tonic 
tablets; Shapley's kidney and liver pills. 
With all that in town, 1 wonder why we 
needed doctors! 

The Commensense Polish interested me. 
I have seen a bottle of this polish for fur- 
niture and it was called "Raven's Polish" 
and had a picture of a raven on the label. I 
was told that it had a horrible smell' 

The Shapley's company came here in 
August of 192:i from Decatur. It moved 
both its office and laboratory to the rooms 
above the bank. They came because they 
thought expenses should be lower here. 
The townspeople were enthusiastic. They 
believed it would put DeLand on the map. 
Late in September 1923, they sent out their 
first mail from here, a circular sent to 
several towns. 



Late in 1927, it was announced that the 
Shapley company would move back to 
Decatur. It had been granted permission 
to sell more stock but it was doubtful if 
enough local stock could be subscribed to 
keep it here. By that time the bank had 
been moved across the street and the drug 
company occupied all of the first floor. It 
moved soon after its announced intention 
to move. 

GARMENT FACTORY 

The Elite Garment factory was 
established here early in 1926 by an out of 
town firm. In April, subscriptions were 
being taken towards the new factory and 
amounted to $4,000. The Shapley company 
moved downstairs and the garment fac- 
tory was installed upstairs. It employed 
several people and made women's 
dresses. 

In December of 1926, there was a change 
a management. The Company had plenty 
of orders but were not getting them out on 
time, and some of the orders were can- 
celled. Mr. Heinitz of Chicago bought out 
the interest of Mr. Stuhlman and things 
were picking up. 

But by 1928, the garment factory failed. 
A group of business men under the 
leadership of P.E. Fonner tried for awhile 
to keep it going, thinking the community 
needed it. But in June of 1928, it was sold to 
satisfy a judgment taken by the First 
Nation Bank. 

There have been no factories in DeLand 
since then until recently. When the old 
Township High School was sold after the 
new DeLand-Weldon High School was 
built, Joe Crawford bought it and installed 
the Quality Water Co. They process bottle 
and ship distilled and ironized water. 

Other businesses in the town today are: 
The Fisher Trucking Co.; Joe's Service 
Station, and garage; Becker Trucking 
Service; (Live-stock hauling;) DeLand 
Motors (garage). This garage and Joe's 
service are on the hill on route 10. 

This account of the businesses in 
DeLand is lengthy but names most of the 
people who have been in business here. 
The following lists the names of those 
whom I have omitted and those whose 
location is not known. 

I have omitted the names of butchers. I 
am sure there were several after folks 
began to give up the home business and let 
custom butchering take its place. The only 
name I have is that of Sherman Parrish 
who for many years did custom butchering 
on his home grounds on the tile factory 
site. 

There were general stores run by Rennet 
and Sackett and EM. Stone. Drugstores 
were numerous. Mentioned were Andy 
McMillen, G.W. Corder, Mr. Day and 
Harrison and Wood. Hardware stores were 
owned by Salem Kesler, Morris and 
Haggard, Chamberlain, Highfill, Conklin, 
Keighan and Goodman. The hardware 

— 48 — 



store most frequently mentioned was that 
of Morris and Haggard who seemed to 
have been the second hardware store 
following that of Salem Kesler. They dated 
back to 1875. The paper mentioned them as 
follows : 

"Our busy little village can boast of 
something few others can, that is, of 
having a first class hardware store. 
Messrs. Haggard and Morris of Chicago 
are both young men, but the manner in 
which they throw the hardware around, 
one would naturally suppose they well 
understand their business. We believe that 
people of this vicinity should patronize 
such a store, especially one located at 
home." 

And again — "Messrs. Morris and 
Haggard certainly deserve great credit for 
putting up those beautiful little stoves. 
Isn't it pleasant to warm by them these 
frosty mornings?" 

Hotels and boarding places were 
numerous. John Mulligan ran the St. 
Nicholas hotel - but where? R.B. Moody's 
house was a rooming house. Where would 
a stranger stay today if he was marooned 
here now'' 

Hermann Cressmer was another boot 
and shoe merchant. Mrs. Berkly and Miss 
Dillman sold hats; Lou Lee was a 
dressmaker; George Race sold meat. Joe 
Rankin and Cobb and Kesler had ice 
houses. They cut the ice from the river in 
wintertime and packed it in sawdust until 
summer. Doc Fonner had the first 
refrigerator in his store. 

Businesses I have not mentioned 
because they were seldom on Main Street 
are carpetners, painters and decorators. 
They include Frank Griffith, Aritis Foster, 
George Buchanan, Cletus Dal ton, George 
Kuder and B.W. Swanstrom, and Henry 
Gessford. 

Beauty shop operators, a later business 
that came to the fore with the invention of 
the permanent wave — possibly in the late 
twenties include Lucille Vaughn, 
Evelyn Wood, Betty Williams, Shirley 
Fisher, Marie Pittman. 

So many businesses — one can scarcely 
belive it. So many people who have entered 
our gates to give us the essentials and the 
comforts of life. We salute them all in- 
cluding the clerks that have received no 
mention. 




DOCTORS 

DeLand has had a number of 
professional people but to my knowledge 
no lawyers. The teachers, the preachers, 
some missionaires, and singing 
evangelists, the librarians, the doctors and 
the dentists. Most of these will be men- 
tioned with the schools, churches, etc. but 
the doctors were a class by themselves. 

With the passing away of Dr. G.S. 
Walker in 1962 the era of DeLand doctors 
came to an end. If you become ill now. you 
go to a doctor in a nearby town and in 
between spells and doctor visits you doctor 
yourself. That was what the pioneers had 
to do as doctors were few and far between 
and had little training. Some of the 
pioneers had picked up a knowledge of 
what to do for some diseases but most of 
them were ineffective and the death rate 
was high. The survivors lived because they 
were rugged people. But they doctored 
with their knowledge of herbs and 
sometimes with their superstitious beliefs. 
Many of the children died when young. 
With the swamps and mosquitoes it is 
surprising that the death rate wasn't 
higher. 

There were few doctors in what is now 
Piatt County when the earliest settler 
made their home here. When John 
Haworth arrived he found "Dr. John", a 
Kickapoo medicine man on the site of the 
Monticello cemetery. He doctored Mrs. 
Haworth for pneumonia with a poultice. 
The first white doctor was a "herb doctor" 
named Terry. The first doctor in Piatt 
County after it became a county was a Dr. 
Hull who owned the John Leischner farm 
in this township but lived in Willow 
Branch. He was the first qualified 
physician and arrived in 1838. 

There were doctors in Goose Creek 
Township before the founding of DeLand. 
Dr. William Ward lived on a farm about a 
half mile north of the village where he 
farmed and prescribed for the sick. He 
was here until 1874 when Dr. Marshall 
Harrison bought his holdings. Dr. Ward 
created quite a stir when he fell in love 
with his housekeeper, wife of his farm 
hand. The husband started suit for 
alienation of his wife's affections and Dr. 
Ward was not long in leaving the com- 
munity. This was probably the first 
scandal in Goose Creek Township. 

It was a house from the holdings that 
Doctor Harrison bought that may be Dr. 
Walker's office. 

Dr. John Harrison joined the State 
Medical Society when its membership was 
quite small, and he attended the meetings 
of a Society that was in Clinton in the 
1870's. Dr. John Wood was a pupil of 
Harrison ( in those days, doctors learned 
from older doctors by apprenticeship) but 
both were hit by the medical practice 
bill of 1877. They went to Keokuk, 
Iowa to a medical school where they 
received their diplomas. Dr. Harrison 
moved to Bushnell. Illinois where he 



taught in a medical school, then went to 
La Porte, Texas. 

Dr. John Anderson Davis was the first 
doctor to locate in DeLand. He came in 
1873 soon after graduating from the 
University of Michigan. P'rom 1877 to 1885 
he lived at Homer, Pennsylvania in order 
to care for his aged mother, but returned 
here and stayed until 1899 when he moved 
to Farmer City. Dr. Davis married Mattie 
I Martha) McMillen. They were married in 
Champaign in 1874. They were the first 
couple of DeLand whose wedding was in 
the papers. They had six children. Dr. 
Davis, too, belonged to the medical Society 
at Clinton. He was a good family physician 
and had a large practice. He was the 
doctor who was said to have tried to move 
the cistern. 

The next two doctors did not stay long. 
Dr. H.S. Saylor, Jr. of Cerro Gordo came 
in 1877 but soon moved to Indiana. Dr. 
John Gardner came in December 1878 but 
shortly thereafter moved to Farmer City. 

Most early doctors were rugged in- 
dividualists and made an impact upon the 
community in which they practiced. Such 
a man was Dr. John Wood, as was Dr. 
Davis. Dr. Wood, tutored by Dr. Davis, 
worked with the latter while he remained 
in DeLand and bought the Davis practice. 
In 1877 Harrison, Davis and Wood all at- 
tended school and Mrs. Wood taught school 
to help her husband get through school. 
She was a colorful character. An in- 
teresting story is told of their wedding. It 
seems that Sarah had been reared by an 
uncle who had not long to live and knew it. 
He wanted to see his ward settled before he 
died. He approved of Dr. Wood and a date 
had been set for the wedding. .Sad to 
relate, when the day came, it was a funeral 
that was held. But knowing her uncle's 
wishes, at the end of the funeral, she and 
the doctor took a place at the head of the 
casket and were married by the same 
pastor who had conducted the funeral. 

Mrs. Wood was the first teacher in the 
village school after it was moved to town in 
1877. In 1894 he sold out to Dr. Loren Reed 
and a year later moved to Champaign, 
staying there for six years and then 
moving to Louisiana. He returned to 
DeLand in 1911, bought a drug store with 
John Vail for a partner. He later sold the 
drug store to Dr. Walker and moved back 
to Champaign where he died in 1915. He 
was ill before he left DeLand. One day on a 
hot summer day, he closed the drugstore 
early and disappeared. When he had not 
returned by suppertime, Mrs. Wood be- 
came alarmed and called for help. Search 
parties searched throughout the night but 
he was not found until the following 
morning when the Whetzel girls who lived 
where the Kingsboroughs live now, went 
after the cows pastured in the Wilson 
timber. He was lying asleep under a tree. 
Mrs. Wood died in Champaign in 1921. 
While in DeLand she had been active in 

— 49 — 



church and social affairs. She wrote poetry 
and on almost every important occasion of 
the church, she had a poem ready to read 
during the service. The only poem that we 
have of hers is a very long one written 
when she received an invitation to a party 
at Dr. Reid's. The poem described her 
reaction to the invitation, her struggle to 
get their clothes together for the occassion 
and what went on at the party. The 
poem is too long to publish in its entirety 
but the latter part of it is as follows : 

"Some guests went and others came, 
You see, the hours were not the same. 
I whispered low in Doctor's ear, 
'We'll see it through since we are here.' 
The guests were leaving very fast 
As by the clock 'twas ten, half-past. 
But doctor said, "We won't go yet. 
Perhaps we'll more refreshments get. 

Soon all were gone, and yet we sat 
And talked of this and talked of that, 
Trying so hard to keep awake 
While waiting for more cream and cake. 

Then Donna came with candle light, 
And sweetly said, 'Do stay the night.' 
This I thought would never do. 
And yet we stayed till after two. 
And when at last we reached the door, 
The hands on dial said 'twas four, 
So now the last goodnight was said 
Was soon at home asleep in bed. 
PS. And we didn't get any more cake 
and cream! 

Dr. Reid was an Ohio man but received 
his medical education in Washington DC. 
He married Donna Chapin in DeLand in 
1896. They had one daughter Hildred, now 
Mrs. Faurest Borton of Monticello. Dr. 
Reid was never very strong, and when it 
came to riding or driving a horse through 
mud or snow as doctors in those days had 
to do, he found it very discouraging. Once 
the horse ran away. He couldn't stop it, so 
he guided it toward a tree, grabbed a 
branch and hung on while the horse ran 
from under him. He moved from here to 
Fairmount, 111., then Bridgeport, Con- 
necticut where he died in 1906. His widow 
and small daughter moved back to 
DeLand and lived with her parents, Mr. 
and Mrs. Chapin, until their death. Mrs. 
Reid continued to live in the Chapin house 
(now Hall's house) and took an active part 
in the community, especially the Woman's 
Club. She was very talented in directing 
plays and almost always directed the 
many plays that were put on in the village 
in the first quarter of the century. She 
moved to an apartment in Monticello for 
awhile, but after a long siege in the 
hospital, returned to DeLand and spent her 
last days with the J.L. Bortons. Her 
contributions to the community have been 
great. 

Dr. Replogle of Cerro Gordo was sup- 
posed to locate here according to Dr. 
McDeed's history, but little is known of 
him. Dr. Charles Smith was here from 1897 



to 1901 when he and his wife, the former 
Hattie Gantz of DeLand, whom he had 
married in 1899, moved to East St. Louis 
where he practiced until his death in 1905. 
Dr. Carleton Booth came to DeLand 
following his graduation from medical 
school in 1901. He was followed by Dr. L.L. 
Steienr (Louie Leo) who was a bachelor 
and very popular. He related one ex- 
perience in deep snow. He made a trip to 
the home of Jurko Lubbers four miles 
south of DeLand one Thursday morning, 
found himself marooned by drifts and 
dida't get back home till Friday evening. 
He was here from 1909 to 1914, when he left 
to study eyes and ears. 

Dr. Winfield McDeed practised in 
DeLand from 1904 to 1907 and was con- 
sidered a very good doctor. He was noted 
chiefly for his high wheeled Holtzman 
automobile whose troubles were 
numerous. The horse power was un- 
certain, the spark plugs more so, but Mac 
pioneered with high wheels and deserves 
the credit. When he left DeLand he went to 
Mount Sterling and thence to Monticello 
where he practised many years. Dr 
McDeed enlisted in World War 1 and while 
in army training, he received training in 
X-ray techniques (a new thing then), 
which became his specialty. 

Dr. L. M. Marvel located here about 
1904, stayed for four years and then sold 
out to Dr. Walker and moved to Weldon. 

Dr. Barton followed Dr. Steiner. He was 
not here long. When he left in 1916 he en- 
tered training in Chicago, specializing in 
eye, ear, nose and throat diseases. He 
moved from Chicago to Kelso, Oregon. 

Early in the 1900s Dr. Lawrence Smith 
came here from Chicago and opened an 
office above the State Bank. He stayed 
three years. He was a brother-in-law of 
Harry Bickel. 

Dr. Theodore Baumann came to DeLand 
following Dr. Barton's departure after 
finishing his internship. He was well liked 
as was his wife and stayed until 1925 when 
he moved to Rockford. He recalled one 
snowy night when he was called to the 
country (in 1917). He traveled in a sleigh 
and on the way back his horse became 
exhausted from fighting drifts and fell. Dr. 
Baumann froze his hands trying to help the 
animal. He finally got help and came 
through the ordeal all right. He and Dr. 
Walker were here during the flu epidemic 
and went through a trying time. When 
Baumann left, no one replaced him so we 
were left with one doctor — Dr. Walker. 
The last doctor in DeLand and the one 
who stayed the longest was Dr. George W. 
Walker who came here in 1907 and stayed 
until his death in 1962. He came here from 
a medical school in Chicago and had an 
office in the Knisely barber shop building. 
In 1908 he bought out Dr. Marvel's practice 
and moved into the little building that is 
still called "Doc Walker's office." About 
the same time, he bought Dr. Wood's drug 
store and moved it to his office building. 
He married Miss Mabel Robinson, who 



was teaching here (she was a native of 
DeLand, a daughter of L.H. Robinson). 
They had two daughters — Katherine 
Lyons of Indiana and Miss Geneva Walker, 
now of Champaign. 

The Walkers were active jn the Christian 
Church and the doctor was intensely in- 
terested in politics and public affairs. If 
you'd like to see a dead ringer for him 
watch the little doctor in Gunsmoke. He 
always makes the writer think of Doc 
Walker. He is about the same size and 
build as Walker was, walks very much like 
Walker did and even his manner of 
speaking and his voice is similar. Dr. 
Walker didn't always talk much but once 
he got started he was full of ideas and 
stories. 

His biggest triumph was his handling of 
the typhoid epidemic among school 
children in the 1930's when he pulled some 
fifty or more through the disease, and lost 
only one case. 

In 1957, he celebrated his fifieth year and 
was given a gold pin by the Illinois State 
Medical Society. In 1957 he was chosen 
head of the Piatt-Dewitt Health Unit. 

In 1962, while on his way home from 
Paxton where he had taken Geneva who 
taught school there, he had a collision with 
another car at a cross roads and was in- 
jured fatally, dying a few days later. 

DeLand has since been without a doctor. 



DENTIST 

We know of only two dentists who had 
offices at DeLand. One was a Dr. Phillips 
who was here around the turn of the 
century and Dr. Vernon Cultra who was 
here for several years coming about 1915. 
He had an office over the State Bank. 
While here he married a local teacher, 
Leila Krepps. Dr. Cultra was a brother of 
Bess Cultra Rinehart — Mrs. Bruce 
Rinehart — and came here from Onargo 
where the Cultra family lived. When he left 
here, they settled in LaGrange. So far as I 
know he is still alive. Mrs. Cultra died two 
years ago. The doctor is retired. 

I believe that sometimes there were 
dentists and eye doctors from neighboring 
villages who occasionally came into the 
town for a day or two at a time, making 
their headquarters in an office or store. 
And many people went to Dr. Foote at 
Weldon, which is what we do now, of 
course. Go out of town. 



FIRES, FLOODS AND 
FREEZING FLURRIES 

The ringing of bells or the blowing of 
whistles in the middle of the night is a 
sound that has always struck terror in the 
hearts of the human race for it probably 
spells a disaster of some sort. In the early 
days of DeLand it was bells. One each at 



50 



the Methodist and Christian churches and 
one in the school house. The sound of all 
three ringing together, got everybody out 
of their bed in a hurry. 

DeLand has been the victim of many 
fires, so many that the town's growth has 
probably been affected by them. However 
it has been fortunate that some of tnem 
occurred at a time that they could be 
replaced, and the new ones have been 
more substantial than the old. The original 
buildings were mostly frame buildings and 
at one time the village board recognized 
them as a fire hazard and passed an or- 
dinance that new buildings were to be of 
something more fire resistant. As it is, 
three of the burned buildings were built of 
tile and one of brick! 

Fires were reported in the early papers 
but usually they were country homes or 
barnes. The first major fire in DeLand did 
not occur until 1888. At that time, there 
were several business buildings along the 
east side of what is now the park. A 
general store, run by the Rinehart 
Brothers, sat about in the middle of the 
block. On the night of Tuesday, November 
1, 1888, a fire broke out in the shed at the 
back of this store, and by the time the fire 
was discovered, the alarm given, and 
citizens with their buckets began to arrive, 
the building was a sheet of flames and 
rapidly spread to the four businesses north 
of it — sparing the postoffice and the grain 
office to the south. Rinehart's entire stock 
of goods was destroyed, Bickel's carriage 
and wagon shop with his accounts and 
notes., all of Dillavou's blacksmith tools. 
The only one to save anything was Reed 
who had a harness shop there. Losses were 
partly covered by insurance. 

The victims were soon all prepared for 
business again. The blacksmith shop and 
Bickel's carriage shop were immediately 
rebuilt — Bickle setting up quarters in his 
barn until the new building was finished. 
Reed moved into the Corder building on 
the east side of the next block and Rinehart 
moved into the town hall (the former 
postoffice building) until spring. Com- 
mented the correspondent, "in point of 
energy and enterprise, DeLand can't be 
beaten, even by Chicago!" 

The second big fire was a spectacular 
one, as elevator fires usually are. It took 
the first elevator in DeLand, which was 
built by Moody and Rodman in 1881 but 
had been sold shortly before the fire to 
Tyler Co. of Chicago. It stood ap- 
proximately where the 1968 elevator now 
stands. Late in December of 1892 between 
the hours of 5 and 6a.m. the elevator was 
discovered to be on fire and although the 
alarm was given promptly, the building 
was completely destroyed. The loss was 
from $10,000 to $15,000 and George 
Wisegarver was the only man to have 
insurance on his grain stored there. 

Two interesting sidelights — the 
Catholic Priest of Bement came here to 
hold Mass, but when he saw the fire, he 
limited his service to a few minutes and 



then dismissed his congregation with 
instructions to go help save all the grain 
they could. 

W.J. Fleming, who lived in the house 
across the street, expected the fire to take 
it and moved all his household goods, even 
the carpets, down the street. After the fire, 
he had the pleasure of moving them back. 

On the Sunday morning before August 
24, 1893, the alarm of fire was sounded and 
before the sleepy villagers could be 
aroused two large double cribs of small 
grain and one of corn was burned. Half of 
the small grain was saved after the fire 
was put out. Location of these bins in 
unknown. 

In June of the next year, 1894, a major 
fire was averted mainly because of a 
group of young men were loafing up town. 
About 11 o'clock, as they sat in front of the 
Rankin Hotel on the west side of Main 
Street, they heard a noise, investigated it 
and found smoke coming from under the 
Dewees and Fuller store, (location 
unknown). A number of people were on 
their way home from a church festival and 
a fire brigade was soon formed. The 
lines extended from several wells and the 
fire was soon under control although the 
flames burned through the floor and 
ignited some of the stock. Damage from 
smoke and water was heavy. 

Eight years went by before the next fire 
in the business district. At 2 a.m. one 
morning in February of 1902. the State 
Bank building burned to the ground. It was 
of brick and stood where the building 
replaced it — now the Odd Fellow building. 
The fire was believed to have started from 
a fireplace in the east end of the building. 
The contents of the Modern Woodman Hall 
above it were destroyed, but the records in 
the vault were uninjured. The bank of- 
ficials set up temporary headquarters in 
the L.B. Hurst store but moved them in a 
day or two to the Chamberlain building 
across the street to the east until the bank 
could be rebuilt. It was nearly covered by 
insurance. 

The schoolhouse was the next disaster. 
The fire broke out early in the morning on 
an August Sunday of 1904. This was a 
frame building of two stories (four rooms) 
built in the middle 1880's. The total loss 
was estimated at $5000 with $3,000 in- 
surance. All kinds of theories were ad- 
vanced as to the cause, many believing 
that it was spontaneous combusion from 
the coal that had just been put in. School 
began on the date planned but in tem- 
porary quarters here and there in the 
village. A contract was let immediately for 
a new building to be ready by the first part 
of 1905. This building was the brick 
building recently abandoned and torn 
down by W.B. Trechard who bought it 
when the new high school was built and the 
grade school was moved to the old 
Township High School. 

In 1914, there were two large fires. Early 
in the year, the two room store building 
owned by John Vail on the present site of 



Madden and Trigg's Insurance office, was 
leveled by fire. One room was occupied by 
a meat market (it was originally the Vail 
and Wood drug store) and the other by a 
grocery owned by Fred Dresback. 

It was believed that the fire started from 
mice chewing on a box of matches in a 
storeroom. Flames were already breaking 
through the south walls when Frank 
Goodman, who was passing by, discovered 
the fire and sounded the alarm. People 
responded quickly but there was a shor- 
tage of buckets brought to the scene so the 
buildings could not be saved. For a while, 
the fire threatened buildings across the 
street to the west but a recent rain had left 
things soaked enough to save them. Winds 
blowing toward the south necessitated 
watchfulness to roofs clear to the south 
edge of town and the library and Bickel's 
implement shops had to be saturated with 
water because of falling burning brands. 

In December of 1914, Conner's grocery 
and living quarters, the postoffice and a 
barber shop fell to the flames. The 
postoffice also housed a music and 
bookstore run by D.B. Troxel, the post- 
master. These were frame buildings on the 
west side of the street just south of the 
National Bank (now the postoffice). The 
other framed buildings south of the little 
barber shop were quickly emptied of all 
furnishings, as everyone expected the 
entire block to burn. However, the fire was 
stopped by pushing the barber shop into 
the flames with large timbers, and pouring 
water down the side of the telephone office 
by men who sat on the roof, receiving the 
water from a line of men who passed the 
buckets across the street from a well there 
hand over hand and up a ladder to them. 
Plate glass windows in several stores were 
cracked and some fires started on other 
roofs, but were quickly doused with water 
by men who were watching closely. It was 
a bitterly cold morning and the fight was a 
hard one. The fire started when Mr. 
Conner built a fire in the kitchen stove. It 
had evidently been smouldering in a faulty 
flue and burst out when he built the fresh 
fire. 

The space left by the burned out 
buildings was rebuilt the next year with six 
brick buildings and the frame buildings to 
the south were repaired and painted and 
moved back into. 

In late 1918, the lumber yard and depot 
burned. It was believed to have been set by 
an arsonist although there was no proof. A 
passerby later reported that he saw a light 
from a flashlight or a lighted match for an 
instant as he went by, but thought little of 
it and did not investigate or report it. No 
reason could be found for arson unless it 
was sabotage by a pro-German and that 
was unlikely. There had been two or three 
barn fires that were believed to be arson 
and if they were, people believed the 
lumber yard was set by a firebug just to 
see it burn. 

— Sl- 



it was a spectacular fire as burning 
brands drifted over town and many 
spectators speedily returned to their 
homes to watch their own roofs. However, 
they could do little to stop the blaze but it 
had been discovered in time for spectators 
to help carry out considerable of the 
store's stock and records from the depot. 
The stock and buildings were owned by 
J.Q. Carter, C.J. Porter, and L.M. Cath- 
cart. Carter had been running it for 
fourteen years. He estimated the loss at 
between $25,000 and $30,000. J.Q. Carter 
rebuilt and strated up the present building 
and businesss. 

W.S. Elder had a concrete building block 
shop in one of the Lumber yard buildings 
and lost all his tools and machinery. The 
loss on the depot was estimated at $1500. 
The railroad officials immediately set up 
two box cars to serve as depot and freight 
station until a new depot could be built. 
DeLand had been trying for some time to 
get a new depot. The old one had shortly 
before been enlarged and remodeled. Now 
the citizens hoped for a better one — 
preferably a brick one. But the company 
reponded with the present building, which 
was much better than the original one ever 
was. 

About this time or a little later — 
possibly 1919, the Eubanks livery stable 
burned to the ground. We have never found 
an account of this fire but know that it did 
cause window breakage in some of the 
neighboring buildings including an east 
window in the Library across the alley to 
the west. 

It was inevitable that the other frame 
buildings on the west side that were saved 
in the 1914 fire, would burn. Actually, it 
was too bad that they did not go in 1914, for 
they were emptied then and would have 
likely been replaced with brick structures. 
As it was, the lots were vacant until the 
firehouse was built in 1947 after a Fire 
Protection System had been set up in 1946. 
These buildings burned in 1926, and took 
four buildings including two restaurants, 
an insurance office and a cream station. 
The fire started in the two story building in 
the middle of the block where the Peacock 
family lived and ran one of the 
restaurants. The fire was believed to have 
been caused from defective wiring. One of 
the boys discovered the fire, gave the 
alarm to his family and ran to Smith's 
garage and brought the chemical fire 
engine. They ran out of chemical and used 
all the soda in town but the fire had gained 
too much headway. The Peacocks escaped 
with few belongings. The other restaurant 
in the Gates building, then owned by Dr. 
Baumann, had just opened the evening 
before. They also lost nearly everything. 

The 1930's were plagued with fires: Lyie 
Cathcart's blacksmith shop in 1930; the 
three tile buildings and the furniture store 
building (the first schoolhouse) owned by 
the George Trigg estate and the Lynn 
Williams bakery one the the new brick 
buildings on the west side of the street. 



The blacksmith shop — one of the 
earliest buildings in DeLand, stood on the 
site of the present fertilizer plant. It had 
stood there for forty years after being 
moved from the corner a block south. The 
strong north wind that night caused 
considerable worry because of flying 
embers. Both Dr. Walker's roof and the 
Methodist parsonage roof ignited but were 
quickly discovered by watchful citizens 
and extinguished. The tin roof on the 
blacksmith shop probably held down the 
fire and saved other buildings. A livery 
stable to the north and a wood working 
shop to the rear both burned. 

The last fire to involve more than one 
building before DeLand finally got its 
water system was the fire on the east side 
(rf the street which caused a $15,000 loss. In 
November of 1933 a fire started from an 
overheated stove in the southernmost of 
the tile buildings occupied by Swartz' 
meatmarket. It spread south to the Trigg 
building which was empty except for some 
things stored there, and north to the Hurst 
general store and on to the corner building 
occupied by the Pioneer Cream Co., run by 
Mr. and Mrs. Hefner. Among his- losses 
was a Police Watchdog and several crates 
of chickens loaded ready for moving in the 
morning. Nothing was saved from the 
meat shop or Hurst's store — not even 
account books. Hurst had no insurance. He 
had carried it for years and shortly before 
the fire decided he didn't need it. Part of 
the other losses were covered. 

The fire was discovered by Edna Hayes, 
telephone operator when she was 
awakened by the sound of falling glass. 
Men of the bucket brigade succeeded in 
stopping the fire before it got to Jim 
Gessford's harness shop south of Triggs, 
and the frame building across the street to 
the north. The blaze was visible for a 
radius of twenty miles and attracted many 
spectators. Fire engines from other towns 
came to help but lack of water made them 
useless. The buildings were not rebuilt and 
the space was used for an out-door show 
ground and a children's ball park. Part of 
it is now occupied by the new State Bank 
and the water tower. 

The last big fire up town was the bakery 
owned by Lynn Williams — the southern of 
the six brick buildings put up in 1916. It 
occurred in 1934. Mr. Williams went to the 
bakery to start his baking for the day and 
found the fire. He notified the telephone 
operator and went to the garage for the 
chemical fire truck. Sleepy-eyed cictizens 
assisted by the Monticello and Weldon fire 
fighters made a gallant fight but were 
unable to save the building. However, their 
efforts and a fire wall between the bakery 
buildings and the dry goods store owned by 
Bill Trigg helped to stop it with just the one 
building destroyed. The walls were still 
standing and were pulled down but the 
basement hole remained for years until 
Jim Richardson bought the site and 
erected a new building which has housed a 
number of businesses but is now occupied 
by E.E. Leischner's Insurance business. 



The DeLand Motors on the hill had a fire 
in 1951 but that was after the town got 
waterworks and most of the building was 
saved. 

And the Christian church had a serious 
fire shortly after the waterworks was put 
into action. James Loney spotted this fire 
and reported it about one p.m. after 
church on Sunday morning. The new fire 
truck was soon there and kept the fire low 
in the sanctuary so that the walls and even 
the stained glass windows were unharmed. 
The fire started from the furnace in the 
basement and burned through the floor. 

To sum up, in the first sixty four years of 
its existence the dream of waterworks for 
the village of DeLand was finally fulfilled 
in the I940's. Before that time, DeLand had 
and thirteen major fires in public 
buildings, several narrow escapes from 
other, 24 buildings had been leveled and 24 
merchants had suffered the loss of 
thousands of dollars. In addition, there 
were that many houses destroyed in the 
village and a number of barns. In the 
township there were also a number of 
losses in houses, barns and corncribs and 
three rural schoolhouses and the North 
Church which burned before it was 
finished. Quite a record. No wonder the 
town had a hard time growing! 

AND THE FLOOD CAME 

Usually it has been lack of water that 
helped make news in DeLand, but once in a 
while it has been the reverse. In May of 
1968, too much water made history in 
DeLand. A series of tornadoes skipped 
over central Illinois, doing considerable 
damage especially to Wapella north of 
Clinton and to Farmer City, ten miles 
north of DeLand. DeLand escaped the 
brunt of the tornadoes but got the side 
effects of wind, water and hail. 

Goose Creek, which runs through the 
village north of the business section, has 
been out of its banks many times and on a 
few occasions has really been flooded. But 
the only time there was a casualty was in 
the summer of 1924 when Raymond Mc- 
Bride - teenage son of Bert McBride — 
drowned when he tried to swim across the 
stream just west of the cemetery. (The 
McBrides lived in what is now the home of 
the Howard Bartisons). The family had 
cows in a pasture that was cut off by the 
flood, and the lad was going after them. 
Other boys were with him so his disap- 
pearance in the water was reported 
promptly but his body was not recovered 
until the next day although the search 
continued throughout the night. Boats 
were brought in and lights established 
along the creek to no avail. Women kept 
hot coffee and sandwiches on the bank for 
the cold and weary searchers. The next 
morning, the body was found close to the 
road south of town caught on a snag in the 
stream. 

— 52 — 



The 1968 flood came on the heels of the 
tornadoes and was not caused by rains 
over a long period as they usually were. 
The cause of all the trouble was a flash 
flood, which poured eight inches of water 
throughout the area in six hours. It came 
down the roadside ditches and across from 
the deluge that hit Farmer City. A ditch, 
dug to relieve Mansfield from flooding, 
empties into the upper branches of Goose 
Creek and contributed to the flood. It 
poured down the highway north of town 
and struck DeLand's "Hill" — the area 
north of the creek extending to route 10. 
From there, it poured into Goose Creek 
and dashed on downstream. 

For the first time in history, people 
living on the hill had water in their 
basements as it poured across the hill. It 
crashed into the east side wall of the 
Jeffery's basement and filled it with water 
a basement fitted up as working and 
living quarters and furnished with an- 
tiques. When the wall began to crack, the 
Jeffery family abandoned the task of j 
rescuing precious belongings and dashed || 
up the stairs getting to the top barely 
ahead of eight feet of water. 

As the water rushed on, it swirled 
through the Louis Kallembach Jr. house 
leaving six inches of mud on the floor. Mrs. 
Kallembach and a fellow teacher from 
Weldon who was here because the roads 
were impassable between DeLand and 
Weldon, rescued what they could and fled. 
Most of the houses on the hill had water in 
their basements but the block to the east 
bore the brunt of it. 

As the water reached the creek it 
spread out north to Roy Mullvain's elec- 
trical shop; south on Main street, almost to 
Smith's garage. Visiting American Legion 
Auxiliary women were forced to spend the 
night at the Legion Hall surrounded by 
water, although the men did succeed in 
getting the cars moved to higher ground. 
The Phosphate fertilizer in sacks at the 
Kaiser Chemical company, washed down 
the stream polluting the water that ran 
through the slaughter house, bursting a 
new addition open and ruining eleven 
freshly butchered beeves hanging within. 

Paul Manning trains horses and had 
three stabled in Swanstrom's barn. The 
water was up to their necks and it was 
impossible to get them out until the water 
went down some. Then the men donned hip 
boots and went in after them. Paul was 
sure that the smallest horse had to swim 
during the peak of the flood. 

The foot bridge to the cemetery washed 
out, and created fear for awhile that Carl 
Ray Norton might have drowned. He had 
supposedly gone to the slaughter house, 
but actually went on to the cemetery. The 
bridge washed out while he was on the 
north side and he couldn't get back right 
away. The two bridges west on the hard 
road and the bridge on Main street were all 
under water as was a fairly high bridge 
south of town. A bridge east of Lodge had 
its approach washed out. 



For the next two or three weeks it took 
some roundabout traveling to get 
anywhere. DeLand's sightseers found 
themselves on the north side of the Main 
street bridge and unable to get back 
across. They had to sit in their cars at the 
top of the hill till the water went down. 
There were people still at the high school 
when the storm struck and Robert Bowen. 
principal, tried to get there. He found 
himself marooned between the two hard 
road bridges! 

People traveling on route 10 were 
stopped at the high school and given 
shelter. One car containing two women got 
by undetected and were swept off the road, 
but someone heard their cries for help and 
a group of men were able to rescue them. 
One woman had climbed to the roof of the 
car and the other was sitting on the door in 
water to her waist. The boiler room at the 
school had water but the furnace was not 
damaged. However, the gym floor had to 
be replaced. 

Water collected on the north side of the 
railroad tracks a mile west of town and 
spilled over the rails washing out 500 feet 
of ballast from under the rails and turning 
the ties up on end for some distance As a 
result, there were no trains for two weeks. 

But the amusing point of the evening 
(and there is always an amusing point in 
most situations ) was at the Baptist church. 
They were having prayer meeting and 
some of the youngsters decided to skip the 
prayers and go to the basement where 
Everett Maden had gone to put chairs up 
out of the water that was commg in. The 
preacher's son was the first one back up. 
Said he; "You'd better pray harder, Dad. 
The water is coming in fast!" 

While all this was happening at DeLand, 
similar things were going on in neigh- 
boring communities. All in all, it was a 
gruesome experience — small when 
compared to the floods we read about. But 
it was a night to remember! 



THE MOST INTERESTING 
OF ALL CLIMATES 

Wind, rain, snow, sleet and hail! 'You 
never can tell what the weather is going to 
be in this most interesting of all climates. 
One year there may be a drought, the next 
downpours of rain with wind and hail, and 
in wintertime there may or may not be 
severe blizzards or light snow or sleet 
storms. A few times wind or sleet has 
struck the area doing considerable 
damage and great discomfort. It may be 
hot in the summer or cold in the winter, but 
with it all, the weather is, on the whole, an 
invigorating climate in which to live. 

Tornadoes are frequent in Illinois in 
spring and summer and sometimes they 
come uncomfortably close to us. We have 
been lucky in that we have not had a tor- 
nado that really tore up the town. 
However, we have had a number of storms 
that took down trees, power lines and did 
some damage to buildings. And three or 



four times there have been tornadoes on 
the outskirts of the village that damaged 
farm buildings. 

In late June of 1885, a heavy windstorm 
passed through town. The only building 
damaged was the Union church which was 
moved ten inches off its foundation. 
Strange to say, it was considered to be the 
best built building m town! Damage was 
estimated at $4(K). 

In July of 1890, another church was 
damaged by wind. The people of South 
Prairie neighborhood north of town had 
built a church known as the North Church 
about three miles north of DeLand on the 
Farmer City road. The church had already 
had one batch of hard luck. It had burned 
before it was finished and was being 
rebuilt. It had not been turned over to the 
trustees when the windstorm blew it off the 
foundation and wracked it so badly that 
the trustees believed it would have to be 
torn down and again rebuilt. However, a 
contractor from Leroy was able to get the 
church back on the foundation and braced 
so that it was stronger than before. 

1902 was noted for a windstorm that took 
down many trees and this has happened 
innumerable times. In 1919 a tornado 
skipped up Stringtown Lane northwest of 
Monticello and invaded the southwest 
corner of Goose Creek township, 
damaging the Miner home on the Mon- 
ticello road. 

At that time, two storms met over 
DeLand, and the downpour that resulted 
left the streets resembling a river. 

There seems to be a sort of tornado alley 
north of DeLand between here and Farmer 
City. In 1926, a tornado damaged buildings 
on farms in that area. About the same 
thing happened in 1962 and again in 1963. 
The same buildings on the same farm 
I belonging to W . B . Trenchard ) were blown 
away twice! There were no injuries. There 
were so many tornadoes around that year 
( 1963) that the television and radio stations 
began broadcasting warnings and the 
sheriffs of each county began sending out 
warnings to schools and urging drills just 
in case. And of course the Farmer City 
storm was the cause of DeLand's flood in 
1968. In the spring of 1972 we had high 
winds and one seemed like a tornado that 
caused some damage on the west side of 
the village. 

We usually have a blizzard sometime 
during each winter. Sometimes the 
weatherman waits until March to let fly all 
that snow in a brisk wind and that storm is 
usually a strong one. Once it came as late 
as May. Much damage occurred in hat- 
cheries because of the loss of power that 
went with the storm. But the drifts melted 
quickly and spring conditions soon 
prevailed again. 

A rain, sleet and windstorm in January 
1913 made money for the three 
blacksmiths m town. They put 229 horse- 
shoes on local horses. Telephone and 

— 53 — 



telegraph lines were down, traffic was 
light, walking treacherous, and 
automobiles immobilized. Only the lucky 
fellow with a buggy and well shod horse 
got about. 

The next winter in February 1914, a 
storm piled up snow 15 feet deep in some 
places. People and mail carriers were not 
able to get through, but the latter didn't 
matter because there was no mail to 
carry. The trains were tied up for three 
days. Pipes at the schoolhouse froze and 
the younger children were dismissed, but 
the High School and grammar grade 
students carried on in the Town Hall and 
the lOOF building. (The lOOF building 
then met in what is now the Masonic 
building where the postoffice is 

located.) 

A similar blizzard occurred in January 
of 1918. There were no trains from Friday 
until Monday, fifteen inches of snow 
drifted from eight to ten feet, the tem- 
perature dropped to 23 degrees below 
zero and coal shortages developed as did a 
bread famine. Housewives had a chance to 
test their skill at baking cornbread and 
biscuits. In some places there was one way 
traffic for horse cars or team only. 

In 1929, snowdrifts again cut off DeLand 
from the outside world. Cars were 
marooned along the roads, the roofs barely 
showing. Trains were stalled and the 
postoffice had large quantities of 
Christmas mail piled up. That was in 
December and it was followed early the 
next month with another heavy blizzard — 
this time with rain, sleet and impassable 
roads. 

The most unexpected was the one that 
occurred in May and affected the hat- 
cheries. 

Generally, we have normal blizzards, 
that are soon over. We got along with such 
most of the time in the thirties and until 
1945. That year, the snow, which began in 
November, remained on the ground for 53 
straight days. Through January 10th, 20 
inches had accumulated. This was due to 
the intensely cold weather that year. 

Worse than blizzards are the once in a 
while sleet storms that hit us. We have just 
gotten through with one in 1972 which kept 
the streets and sidewalks treacherous for 
nearly three weeks. Some communities 
were without power for a long period but 
DeLand escaped that. But we have had a 
couple of sleet storms that put our supply 
of electricity out of order for long periods. 
About 1945, there was a sleet storm on 
Armistice day that furnished an in- 
teresting sidelight. By that time, many 
people were cooking on electric stoves and 
some had furnaces run by electricity. It 
was a cold time for those people. The men 
congregated at the restaurant and other 
places having heat. The women either 
visited friends who had heat, or took to the 
warmth of their beds and blankets. One 
group of women decided to make a party of 
it. They met first at the home of one who 
had a cook stove, for brunch, then went to 



the home of one who had a manually 
controlled space heater, to play bridge. 
Each took something along to help with the 
breakfast. One, as she went out, grabbed 
her electric coffee pot! Another took along 
her electric toaster! 

But the worst ice storm — the one that 
really did damage and created hardship 
was in 1967. An ice storm that downed 
trees, power and telephone lines, and left 
all Illinois in darkness lasted from 
Thursday until Saturday in some areas. 
Some telephone lines — rural lines mostly 
— were out for weeks. By this time, gas 
had become the primary fuel in DeLand 
and nearly everyone had put in gas fur- 
naces that were run by electricity. Those 
people who cooked with gas were lucky. 
They could turn on their ovens and get a 
little heat. Many people had freezers and 
everyone had refrigerators practically all 
run by electricity. Large quantities of 
foods spoiled — especially on the farms. It 
was a repetition of a storm in 1964 which 
was not quite so bad because then many 
people had space heaters run by oil. 

One of the worst features of snow and ice 
storms in this mechanized world is the 
roads. State and local men start out at the 
first sign of snow or freezing rain and even 
then it is practically impossible to keep 
ahead of the drifting, and often the 
roadside ditches are lined with travelers in 
snowbanks. They are usually taken to 
nearby farm homes or villages where 
people open their homes in true 
hospitality. Schools are often closed 
because the buses cannot run and if they 
are closed they are considered "snow 
days" and made up at the time of the 
Easter vacation when extra days are 
allowed for this purpose. This is necessary 
because the state requires that schools be 
in session a stated number of days. 

Another natural phenomon that occurs 
in our area is hail. That is something most 
people view with alarm, especially far- 
mers because of the damage to crops. No 
disastrous hail storms have been recorded 
in Goose Creek township, which often 
accompany windstorms. But one was 
recorded in 1883 in the county paper, which 
sounds like a tall tale, but similar hail was 
recorded in nearby communities so there 
must have been something to it, even if 
exaggerated. The item read: 

"Storm in Piatt County ! ' ' 
"In Goose Creek the hail storm was 
huge. Solid blocks of ice fell over four feet 
thick! John Vail and Doc Wood made hay 
while the sun shone by storing enough 
blocks to thoroughly cool those confounded 
bumblebees." 

Similar items reported ice the size of 
bricks falling in Champaign, seven inches 
in diameter at Fisher, over two feet in 
diameter in Sangamon township and over 
three feet in Willow Branch township! 

Draw your own conclusions. One person 
who read this commented dryly: "There 
may have been some inflation even then! " 



Central Illinois has been subject at times 
to droughts and wind storms. Fortunately 
not often except in the 30's, especially 1936 
when the farmlands of the great plains 
that had been plowed up during World War 
1 to plant wheat, practically blew to every 
corner of the nation. The rest of the 
country was dry, too, for a number of 
years. It was a calamity for farm people 
already hurt by the depression and for 
those who had respiratory ailments. 

Anyway, we don't have hurricanes or 
typhoons. Thank goodness! 

BUT EARTHQUAKES — YES! 

Only occasionally do we feel the tremor 
d an earthquake. Yes, California, we 
do have earthquakes but we hope there 
will never be any competition. Once or 
twice in the 1880's, earthquakes were 
reported and in 1909 two were felt in 
DeLand. In the early sixties and again late 
in that decade an earthquake was felt 
here. The first one was strong enough to 
sway furniture. All of those felt were very 
light, very brief and did no damage. Many 
people did not even notice them but it did 
make conversation for those who did. 
These earthquakes are triggered by a fault 
in the Ozarks of Missouri and Southern 
Illinois. The only heavy one is said to have 
occurred in the 1790's but there was then 
such a sparse population that it did no 
damage to human beings in the area. If 
one came now in the same locality, it 
probably would be different. It is claimed 
that it could happen again though not 
likely. 

EPIDEMICS 

While we are talking about catastrophes 
and near catastrophes we will mention 
epidemics which in the earlier days were 
serious. Every winter there was the usual 
epidemic of children's diseases in the 
school measles, chicken pox, mumps 
and whooping cough. The disease was 
expected and many people worried little 
about them even though they sometimes 
had bad after effects. Some people 
deliberately exposed their children to "get 
it over with." Occasionally, it was gotten 
over with permanently! 

But the onslaught of a case of scarlet 
fever or diphtheria was a different matter. 
Everyone feared these two. The house in 
which the victim lived was immediately 
quarantined with a big red sign that 
named the disease and said "Keep out!" 
And the whole family stayed in, food was 
brought and deposited on the doorstep and 
the inmates were not allowed out until the 
disease was over, and the place fumigated 
with formaldehyde or the burning of 
sulphur candles. Schools were often closed 
if there was more than one case. Hooray? 
No indeed. It didn't mean you could 
engage in a ball game with your friends or 
sit and chat with them. The ruling was 

— 54 — 



enforced. A kid caught on the street was 
sent home in a hurry. 

The writer remembers one school clos- 
ing when a revival was going on at the 
Methodist church. The teenagers, who had 
been singing in the choir were unhappy at 
missing the services and some of them 
decided not to. They slipped into the back 
seats in the League room, hoping that they 
would not be noticed. But someone did 
notice and the young people were speedily 
sent home and told to stay there. The 
writer was luckier. Because she had had 
scarlet fever and was considered immune, 
she was allowed to make a trip to the 
grocery store but was cautioned NOT TO 
STOP ANYWHERE. But she did have a 
chat with her best friend over the width of 
the yard. 

Smallpox broke out occasionally and 
that meant vaccination for anyone who 
had not been vaccinated for a certain 
number of years. 

There were deaths from scarlet fever 
and diphtheria in the early days because 
there was no vaccine or antitoxin to fight 
them. The John Cyphers family lost three 
children in one epidemic. 

The first serious polio epidemic broke 
out in the fall of 1916. Schools were delayed 
for two weeks in their opening and the first 
day that pupils were in school, a doctor 
visited the school and tapped the knee of 
each child. If he reacted, he was speedily _ 
removed from school and was quarantined ■ 
until it was certain that he did not have ■ 
polio. There have been a number of polio 
cases in the community but the Salk 
vaccine given now to children at an early 
age has lowered the number of such cases 
and modern treatment has prevented a lot 
of crippling from the disease. This is true 
also of smallpox and children's diseases. 
They can now be dealt with successfully. 
The influenza epidemic of 1918 was a 
serious epidemic in the entire country 
including DeLand. Several people died 
here and the disease spread in spite of the 
fact that all activities in the community 
were halted and every precaution taken to 
check the disease. Vaccine now holds this 
disease in check, too. 

The Typhoid fever epidemics in 1933 and 
34 were really bad. About May 5, 1933 an 
illness broke out among the grade school 
children which was first diagnosed as 
stomach flu. When the first report was 
made in the paper, there were only 36 
children in attendance and some of them 
were not feeling well. Doctors from 
Monticello, Weldon and the State Health 
department were called in for con- 
sultation. All agreed that it looked 
suspiciously like typhoid fever. Tests were 
made on milk and the water in the school 
well and it was soon definitely established 
that it was typhoid and that the school well 
was the source of the trouble. Suggestions 
were made for purifying the well and it 
was suggested that it was high time for 
DeLand to put in a water system. 1933 was 
one of the years of highwater. The creek 



was out of its banks and since it was only a 
block away from the schoolhouse, it was 
suspected of being the souce of pollution. It 
may have been partially to blame, but a 
leak in the sewage system of the school 
was finally declared the culprit. There 
were at least forty cases that were 
diagnosed as typhoid and others that were 
suspected. School was closed, typhoid 
shots given and the quarantines enforced. 
Sporadic cases broke out from time to time 
for two or three years. The testing of most 
of the shallow wells found many con- 
taminated and water had to be boiled. 
They filled up some of the worst offenders. 
This epidemic along with the numerous 
fires led, in spite of many difficulties, to 
the construction of a water system. 

A new well was dug at the school and 
made in such a way that there could be no 
contamination. 

Most of the cases were considered light 
cases and there was only one death. Dr. 
Walker worked long and tirelessly through 
it all and deserves praise for the service he 
gave. 

This was not the first time that DeLand 
had had cases of typhoid. Cases were 
mentioned many times in the earlier days 
and it is probable that the disease had its 
hold upon the community for many years. 
Since the water system was put in, there 
have been no cases. 

CHURCHES KSTABLISHKD KARLY 

When a new community is formed, there 
are certain things that must be seen to 
immediately. After the three necessities - 
food, clothing, and shelter are provided, 
most people think of their spiritual and 
educational needs. So it was that the 
pioneers of DeLand began to plan for 
churches and schools. Fortunately, there 
was a country school about a half mile 
north and a little west of the village, so that 
problem was solved speedily. There were 
also three other rural schoolhouses where 
services were conducted Piatt, Morain 
and Ashland. There may have been others. 
The Piatt school in the southeast corner of 
the township and the Morain school four 
miles south of the site of Deland, depended 
upon itinerant preachers, and ministers 
from Monticello and other neighboring 
towns. They seemed to be of no one 
demonination, serving the entire com- 
munity although Morain was, for a long 
time, on the circuit followed by the famous 
Methodist circut rider, Peter Cartwirght, 
as was Centerville in Sangamon Township. 
After DeLand churches were established, 
preachers from both the Christian and 
Methodist churches preached at Morain on 
Sunday afternoons. Both schools had 
burial grounds close by. Neither school 
district built a church. 

The Ashland schoolhouse was the first 
church home of the Methodist Episcopal 
congregation who began to worship there 
about 1870. Catholics of the community 
made the trek each Sunday to Farmer 



City. 

From the first, religious services were 
held in DeLand. The congregation, made 
up mostly of Methodist Protestants and 
Christians, but including a few Presby- 
terians and Baptists, and sometimes the 
Methodist Episcopals (especially in bad 
weather) met in "The Hall" above Vail's 
store. Mr. Vail rented out this hall to 
whomsoever wanted it, which included the 
church people. The community, as a 
whole, had festivals, suppers and 
programs there. Every year they had a 
program with a huge tree, a Santa Claus, 
treats, and numbers by both young and 
old. 

During their use of Mr. Vail's Hall, there 
is only one account of dissatisfaction. It 
seems that Mr. Vail had given his consent 
for the famous humorist and facial artist, 
Thad Varney, to occupy the hall on two 
evenings to give one of his amusing en- 
tertainments. The church people thought 
that such an entertainment was out of 
order as they had rented the hall for a 
certain length of time which had not yet 
expired. Mr. Vail reminded them that he 
had rented the hall to them for religious 
purposes only, and that when they were 
not using the hall, he could do with it as he 
pleased. After considerable warm 
discussion, the church people decided to go 
home and let Mr. Thad walk in. The article 
in the paper concluded: "We think they 
should be willing to give up for a night or 
two and rest their weary body. Brethern, 
'We would that ye should love one 
another.' 

In 1875, the citizens began talking of 
building church buildings. The Methodist 
Episcopal congregation were the first to 
consider doing so. An effort was made to 
get funds by subscription but the amount 
fell short of the goal and the trustees 
decided to give up the project. 



The Union Church 

The Methodist Protestants fared better. 
They and the Christians formed a partner- 
ship for the purpose of building a Union 
church. On February 3, 1876, the Methodist 
Protestants organized as a denomination 
and the Christian people soon followed. In 
early 1876, the Union church was built on 
the northwest corner of the intersection of 
Indiana Avenue and Fourth Street. It was 
28 feet by 45 feet, frame construction with 
a steeple. Meredith and Roberts of Monti- 
cello had the contract to build it, and it cost 
$2,531.26. Messrs. Bondurant, A.R. Borton, 
and R.B. Moody were the members of the 
committee in charge. It was dedicated on 
July 23, 1876. The two congregations took 
turns filling the pulpit, but while each 
congregation kept its own idenity, most of 
the activities were carried on jointly. At 
times, the Methodist Episcopals used the 
building for Sunday School on Sunday 
afternoon and frequently joined in the 

— 55 — 



various activities. 

The following is an account of the 
dedication of the Union church as given in 
a county paper of July 26, 1876. 

"The Union church of DeLand was 
dedicated last Sunday, July 23, 1876. About 
400 people were present. Rev. Ackerman 
and Rev. Mayall of the Methodist 
Protestant denomination, and Rev. 
Maupin, Christian pastor from Farmer 
City preached dedicatory sermons. The 
service began at half-past ten o'clock. A 
subscription was raised to pay off the debt 
of the church. This leaves about $200 yet to 
be raised. The church presented quite a 
creditable appearance and reflects credit 
on the energy and enterprise of the people 
of DeLand. It will add much to the at- 
tractiveness of the town." 

They must have had trouble raising the 
$200 or some failed to pay their pledges for 
in 1883 the Methodist Protestants sold a 
parsonage that had been given them by 
Thomas Bondurant and paid off their part 
of the debt. The Christian (or Disciple 
church) seemed to have paid off their 
share. (The parsonage sold was the house 
in which Ted Webb lives.) Said the 
correspondent: "The relations between 
the two societies are and have been for 
seven years very harmonious. May 
brotherly love continue." 

The unity and harmony were destined to 
continue for twenty years. During that 
time, the Union church and the Methodist 
Episcopal church, built in 1880, furnished 
not only the spiritual life of the village, but 
much of the social life. There were no 
automobiles, television sets, radios or 
movies to take people out of town or keep 
them at home and if they were to have a 
social life, it was necessary to provide it 
for themselves. Each had a woman's 
organization called the Ladies' Aid 
(Reapers at the Union church). They had 
basket meetings and picnics, a Jug 
breaking (Don't ask me what that was!) 
Necktie festivals, Sunday School concerts, 
a singing school, baptism services for 
members gained during revival meetings 
( the baptisms took place at the creek south 
of town). Township Sunday School con- 
ventions, fairs. Union Thanksgiving 
services, Children's Day, Easter, and 
Christmas programs, donation parties for 
the ministers, bazaars, suppers, Chicken 
fries, Epworth League and Christian 
Endeavor Socials, ice cream festivals — 
one could go on and on. The community 
was a busy, lively place. No one died of 
boredom. On three occasions, the 
Methodist Protestant district meeting was 
held in DeLand; the Methodist Episcopal 
church also hosted district conventions of 
the Epworth League, the Woman's 
Foreigh Missionary Society, and a con- 
vention of District pastors. 

Christmas in early DeLand was a 
highlight. There was nothing commercial 
about it. In those days, only a few families 
had Christmas trees, and nearly everyone 
tooks presents to the church to put on the 




Methodist baseball team 




Christian Church 





Catholic Church — now town hall 




i 



Baptist Church 



I 



I 




IVlethodist Church 



— 56 



Enterprise Church 



tree there. The outstanding gifts were 
listed in the paper. In 1876, Mrs. J.B. 
Hutchinson received several vases, and 
several pieces of Queen's ware; Mrs. John 
Vail received a fine brown dress pattern; 
Mrs. Haggard vases; Mrs. Marquiss 
vases; Mr. Van Vickie a box of cigars; 
Mr. Moody — a law book inscribed 
"Moody and Gordan, Attorneys at Law). 
(Mr. Moody was the Justice of the Peace) 
and to Mr. Bondurant, the town's founder 
a "Most magnificent doll baby, which 
pleased friend Tom amazingly well." 
Thomas Bondurant must have been a man 
of good humor for the correspondent in the 
county paper quite frequently razzed him 
about something and Mr. Bondurant 
seemed to take the jokes with great sports- 
manship. 

Mr. R.B. Moody, affectionately known 
as "Uncle Bruce," was the Santa Claus for 
many years. Mr. Moody was a Civil War 
veteran, a pioneer settler, and a congenial 
man intensely interested in the welfare of 
the village, the church and the young 
people. He had his finger into most of the 
important activities of the village. 

Community Christmas entertainments 
managed by the churches were the rule for 
many years. After the Wigwam was built 
in 1888, they often used it for the event as 
the seating capacity was greater than that 
of the churches. They did not always have 
a Christmas tree. One year they had a 
Christmas ship. This was something new 
and a change. The correspondent com- 
mented: "Now let the old ship sail in under 
a strong breeze and heavily laden with 
presents and tokens of friendship." Later 
on, one of the churches had a "Jacob's 
Ladder" and another time, a bell along 
with a cantatta. On one occasion ( 1893) the 
Sunday Schools planted two trees at the 
Wigwam in memory of the birth of Christ. 
Music was furnished by the choir and the 
children, who spoke pieces, marched in 
drills, and took part in tableaus. A good 
time was enjoyed by everyone there and 
the house was always full. 

Another annual event in the churches 
were watch night services on New Year's 
eve. starting with supper and a social hour 
followed by a religious service that ended 
as the New Year arrived. And at Easter 
time, the young people sponsored a sunrise 
prayer meeting followed by a breakfast. 

Early pastors of the Christian 
denomination serving in the Union church 
were: Charles Rowe, S.K. Hallum; F.H. 
Moffat, Samuel Lowe; R.L. Robinson, 
H.R. Pritchett, W.T. Moppin, John Lemon, 
W.G Springer, J.E. Jewett, Wm. 
Ingraham, J.F. Stottlemeyer, D.W. 
Homer, A.C. Keever, S.S. Jones, C.N. 
Downey, J.I. Gunn, W.H. Cannon, E. 
Lewis, T.T. Holton, and J.M. Francis who 
was pastor when the new church was built. 

Early MP pastors mentioned were 
Rev. A. McKmley, Jacob Mansfield, Rev. 
Ackerman. Rev. Whyal, Rev. Maupin, 
Rev. Tickett (Evangelist), D.B. Turney 
and Dr. Widney. 



The union church had one severe set 
back. On July 1, 1885, a severe windstorm 
passed through town. Though it was 
considered the strongest building in town, 
the church was the only building damaged. 
The wind blew it off its foundation but it 
was repaired and was as good as new. In 
1889 the church was repapered and new 
furniture purchased. There was even talk 
of buying an organ. 

But in 1895, the Christian congregation 
decided they should have a new church of 
their own, so they separated from the 
Methodist Protestants and built the 
present building. After the departure of 
the Christian people, the M.P.'s. being 
fewer in number, dwindled and finally 
gave up the struggle. The members went 
into the other churches or moved to 
Weldon where they had a strong MP. 
church. For several years the building 
stood deserted. In 1905, Ira Gantz bought 
it, tore it down and used the lumber to 
build a house on the site, (the house on 
Indiana and 4th owned by the school.) 

The Christian Church 

After twenty years association with the 
Methodist Protestants in the Union 
church, the Christian congregation built a 
new church. By April of 1895, subscriptions 
for the new church were about completed 
and work on it was started. By the latter 
part of May, the cellar was excavated and 
the building committee had decided to use 
tile, a new product on the market, for its 
walls. It made an attractive looking 
church. At this point. Rev. J.W. Francis 
resigned and Rev. T.T. Holton took his 
place. By the middle of September the 
masonry was two-thirds completed, and 
by October 31, the slating on the roof was 
nearly finished. The building was 40 feet 
wide and 70 feet long with several angles 
and corners. R.R. Meredith did the car- 
penter work and Coe and McMillen had the 
contract for the slate work and tinware. It 
cost $6,000. The tilewalls were a light tan 
color with a smooth glazed finish. 

The church was dedicated on January 
21, 1896. The sermon was preached by J.H. 
Hardin, president of Eureka college a 
Christian church college. The music was 
under the management of Elder Bundig of 
Bement. 

In 1911, an addition was built to the west 
of the Sanctuary for church parlors. The 
addition included a kitchen and the two 
other rooms were used for meetings, 
suppers, bazaars and other purposes 
besides being used as class rooms. Rev. 
W.T. McConncIl was then pastor. 

Recently the basement of the church has 
been remodeled to serve as classrooms. 
The church had a room or two back of the 
Sanctuary that could be opened when 
extra seating was needed for funerals and 
other largely attended class rooms, a 
nurserv and rest rooms. These have been 



57 



converted to class rooms, a nursery and 
rest rooms and a library from which the 
congregation can check out reading 
material. Some of the women take turns 
acting as librarian. 

According to a church history in an 
anniversary folder, the Christian church 
has had two serious fires. We were unable 
to find the date or extent of one of these, 
but the fire of January 5th, 1942 was almost 
a disaster. It was a very cold day. The 
church services had been over about an 
hour when the fire whistle blew. The fire 
was discovered by a boy James Loney 
who chanced to pass by. He saw the 
smoke pouring from the building and 
turned in the alarm. The new DeLand 
waterworks received its first test that day 
and proved its worth. The fire district had 
not yet been formed but the men hurriedly 
hooked up three hoses and poured water on 
the blaze. They succeeded in confining the 
fire to the auditorium and kept it low so 
that only the lower part was destroyed. 
The fire had started from the furnace in 
the basement. The seating in the 
auditorium were chairs of the opera chair 
type, and the veneer was completely 
ruined by the water poured upon them. 
Miraculously, the lovely stained glass 
windows were not injured. The furnace 
and other maintenance equipment were a 
complete loss. The auditorium had shortly 
before the fire been remodeled. The 
damage from the fire and smoke in the 
rest of the building was estimated at $6,000 
to $7,000. 

The trustees met on Monday and made 
arrangements to hold services in the grade 
school across the street until the building 
was repaired. By June, the repair work 
was done and ready for the new pews of 
oak to be installed. They had been built to 
order by the American Seating Co., of 
Grand Rapids Michigan and a factoryman 
was sent out to assemble and arrange 
them. The seats are arranged with a 
center and side aisles and will seat 190 
people. 

A re-dedication program was held on 
June 29, 1942. Services were held both 
morning and evening. The pastor. Rev. 
Dean McGrew, delivered a special sermon 
at 11 a.m. Special music had been 
prepared for the occasion. Dinner was 
served in the church parlors. There were a 
number of former pastors present, and 
special guests were the men who had 
worked so heroically in January to save 
the building. In the evening, the High 
School orchestra, under the leadership of 
Harry Merry gave a musical program and 
Kathleen and Cloyd Hamilton, of Decatur, 
former members, were present and sang. 
The building committee, John Remmcrs, 
Wilson Webb, and W.B. Trenchard were 
commended for the beautiful appearance 
of the church with its instiillation of new 
lighting, the gift of the Trenchards. 

The Christian church for many years 
hiid had a parsonage on the Hill hvo blocks 
north of the church. It, too, has had a 



number of small fires which, fortunately, 
were discovered in time to put it out. 

There have been several anniversary 
celebrations. One of the program folders 
mentioned Mrs. Martha Bondurant and 
her son, Thomas E., Mr. and Mrs. Joel 
Churchill and Mr. and Mrs. H.G. Porter as 
charter members. There were un- 
doubtedly others. At such observances, 
they always have a period of time when 
they reminisce and it is always in- 
teresting. As long as they lived, Mrs. 
Charles Marvel and her mother, Mrs. 
Swisher used their poetry-writing talent 
and read poems written for the occasion. 

Among the pastors of the new church 
building were; T.T. Holton, W.T. Mc- 
Connell, L.B. Pickerell, A.B. Jewett, J.W. 
Keefer, F.M. Stambaugh, F.W. Lowman, 
Frank Smith. AC. Roach, L.C. Crown, 
G.W. Wise, J.M. Ice, L.P. Fisher, P.E. 
Million, W.P. Morris, J.W. Robbins, 
Ewart Wyle, J.L. Davis, A.C. Stewart, 
E.H. Willey, W.S. Scheurman, R.H. 
Heicke, Dean McGrew, Lyle E. Childs, 
E.P. Shepherd, Joseph B. Whanger, 
Everett Thompson, J. Deck, Everett 
Hughes, Jerry Lewis, and Ronald Self. 
Rev. Self is the present minister but has 
resigned to serve a church in Alabama. 

Like most churches, the Christian 
church has some active organizations such 
as the Ladies Aid (now called Loyal 
Women), a men's club, a Christian En- 
deavor, and Sunday School classes which 
are active socially. These groups not only 
serve the church but also the community 
with their bazaars, luncheons and the 
stands at the Community Homecoming. 
They have also had several winning floats 
at that time. At the present, several 
women make monthly trips to Lincoln to 
give assistance to the Lincoln Nursing 
home. Beverly Carter also conducts a 
"Good News Club" for the local children, 
and the Sunday School holds a Vacation 
Bible School each summer. 

The Old Bible 

In April of 1926, this appeared in the 
Christian church notes: 

"We are greatly indebted to the Ladies' 
Aid for their timely gift of a lovely new 
pulpit Bible, which they presented the 
Church Sunday morning. The old Bible, 
which had become too worn to use, had 
been given almost fifty years ago by Mrs. 
Martha Bondurant, mother of Miss Mary 
and Thomas Bondurant. At that time the 
Christian and Methodist Protestant 
churches met for worship on alternate 
Sundays in the old Union church, which 
stood a block west of the present Christian 
church and the Bible was used there for 
twenty years. At the completion of the 
Christian church in 1897, it was brought to 
the new church and has been used here for 
30 years. During the service of the Bible, it 
has been used by perhaps 25 resident 
ministers and by many others. Only a few 
(rf those who were in the congregation at 



the time of the presentation have survived 
the life of the book itself, and there are 
scarcely half a dozen left in the com- 
munity." 

It was thought for a while that the old 
Bible might still be in existence. Mrs. 
Mabel Walker, had rescued a Bible from 
destruction at the church, had taken it 
home with her and later had given it to 
Helen Trenchard. But examination 
revealed that the book Helen had, had been 
through a fire. So that Bible is probably the 
new Bible mentioned above which had 
been in use from 1926 till 1942. 

Methodist Episcopal Church 

The Methodist Episcopal Denomination 
began its life in Goose Creek township 
before DeLand was founded. It was 
organized and met in the Ashland 
schoolhouse two miles southwest of 
DeLand, with J.T. Orr and Joseph 
Winterbottom as the first pastors. They 
moved their meeting place to DeLand in 
1875, using the Vail Hall. 

According to Mrs. J.L. Borton, they met 
in 1877 and 1878 every two weeks in the 
Union church on Sunday afternoon. In 
1878, they again moved their meeting 
place this time to the DeLand (Bon- 
durant) school which had been moved into 
DeLand from north of town. 

There was considerable talk from 1876 
concerning the building of a church. Their 
first attempt to raise money fell short of 
their goal, but in 1879 they raised enough to 
start the new church. R.B. Moody, Salem 
Kesler, J.H. Rinehart, J.W. Cyphers, and 
Jacob Stultz were appointed trustees, a 
building committee was appointed and 
they started work getting pledges toward 
the building. The frame building built on 
the site of the present parsonage was built 
by men hired by the day. Carpenters were 
J.H. Murphy, and Walsh of Monticello. The 
building cost $2250. The bell was paid for 
from an entertainment given by L.S. Kidd, 
George Ingersol, Etta Francis, Alzina 
Dillin and Mrs. I.L. Rinehart. In less than 
a year the money for the church had been 
raised and they were able to dedicate it on 
February 7, 1880. (According to the rules 
of the Methodist church, a church building 
must be paid for before it can be 
dedicated.) Elder Hiram Buck of Decatur 
preached the dedicatory sermon. 

Other pastors during the lifetime of this 
building were; W.T. Beadles, Deathrage, 
H.C. Turner, Uriah Warrington, R.D. 
Choate, E.M. Jeffers, A.B. McElfresh, 
J.W. Lapham, Peter Wallace, James 
Burke, I. Groves, F.B. Madden, M.S. 
McCoy, Thornton Clar, D.W. BritUn, E.K. 
Towle, A.N. Simmons, J.E. Strevey and 
EL. Darley. 

The Charter members of the church 
were; Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Moody, Mr. and 
Mrs. John Carrier, Mr. and Mrs. I.L. 
Rinehart, Mr. and Mrs. John Pollison, Mr. 

— 58 — 



and Mrs. Jacob Stultz, Mrs. Susan Curry, 
Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Rinehart, Mr. and Mrs. 
Henry McBride, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip 
McBride, Mrs. Mary Gessford, Mrs. 
Hiram Dillin, Mr. and Mrs. Benedict, Mrs. 
Maggie Marsh, Mrs. Alzina Dillin, Mrs. 
Minnie Bickel, William McBride, J.W. 
Cyphers, Mrs. Stella Keller, Mr. and Mrs. 
J.H. Cobb, Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Marvel, Mr. 
and Mrs. John Frizzell, and Mr. and Mrs. 
Jacob McBride. A few of these Charter 
members had the privilege of contributing 
to the five different church buildings in the 
village — the Union, the Christian, the 
Catholic and the two Methodist buildings. 

According to some of the early pastors : 
During the winter of 1879, during the 
pastorate of J.D. Botkin, a successful 
revival was held with 75 conversions, 
mostly young men and women. At that 
time, the DeLand and Weldon churches 
were a circuit. The pastors preached 
alternate Sundays at the two churches. In 
1883-4, J.W. Lapham raised the money to 
build a parsonage. This parsonage (now 
the house in which Ronald Fisher lives) 
was a two story building "with seven good 
rooms and a bay window. Mr. Seymour 
Marquiss and lady, in the goodness of their 
generous, noble souls, led the van by 
donating an acre of ground with $200. Nine 
others, inspired by this example and the 
urgency of the case, gave $50 each. Lesser 
amounts followed until we occupy one the 
best parsonages in central Illinois." 

"We were just moving into the par- 
sonage" says Rev. Lapham, "when an 
army of DeLand's BEST precipitated 
itself upon us. The parsonage was at once 
unconditionallv surrendered and the army 
of the invasion occupied the entire 
premises. 

"Amid the joyful greeUngs of captors 
and captives, it was discovered that the 
former had an ample and well furnished 
•supply train' and that the supplies were 
mainly for the occupants of the 
beleaguered parsonage. At this juncture 
this army of the fair and the brave stacked 
arms by piling the table and pantry with 
loads of flour, groceries, canned fruit, etc. 
There were also "accompanied cash." 
Very soon, full rations of ice cream and 
cake were issued to all present — soldiers 
and citizens alike. About two hours were 
now spent in social chitchat and formmg 
new acquaintances when the invaders 
retreated in good order and bearing with 
them our best wishes and followed by our 
ardent prayers, that 'he who loves a 
cheerful giver' may abundantly reward 

them with the riches and grace of Jesus 

Christ." 
I. Groves held a successful revival with 

about 80 conversions — this time mostly 

heads of famihes. 
Peter Wallace was here from 1888 to 

March 1889 when he was appointed 

chaplain of the SUte Soldier's Home at 

Quincy. 

During Rev. Madden's pastorate, the 

ministerial association met here. One of 



the addresses was titled, "From Pitch Pot 
to Pulpit." 

I The above items were from Mrs. 
J.L. Borton's history of the church given in 
1916 when the church celebrated its 40th 
anniversary.) 

The Methodists Build 
A New Church 

During E.L. Darley's pastorate, the 
Methodist congregation began making 
plans for a new church. The trustees at the 
time were: J.H. Campbell, C.E. Dresback, 
W. Dewees, H.W. Gantz, D.W. Hursh, M.E. 
Miller, and S.A. Hassinger. Before the 
church was finished, T.S. Mitchell became 
pastor. The contract was let to Mitchell 
and Co., of Danville. It was built on the 
northeast corner of 3rd St. and Illinois Ave. 
The house, which Dick Tilson moved into 
town in the early history of the Village was 
now owned by R.B. Moody who moved it to 
the south part of town. The church was 
built of a dark red brick and stone and had 
a slate roof. It was dedicated on December 
16, 1906 by Rev. Wm. D. Parr of Kokomo, 
Indiana. 

The building was financed by con- 
tributions by both individuals and 
organizations. I have heard that the Ladies 
Aid husked corn to pay for their pledge. 
The congregation sold bricks in addition to 
other ways of raising money even the 
children helping in that and so had a 
feeling of being part of the project. At its 
dedication, the church was free of debt 
with enough money left to buy a good piano 
and some other things. Rev. Mitchell was 
followed by C.M.M, Fultz, who was 
followed by C.F. Juvinall. During Rev. 
Juvinall's pastorate, the old frame church 
was torn down and a new parsonage built 
on the lots using the lumber from the old 
church. This is the parsonage of today 
except that they keep modernizing as 
needed. 

Rev. H.G. Beck became pastor in 1914. 
He and his wife were very popular, and he 
was still pastor when World War 1 broke 
out. He volunteered as chaplain and 
served until the war was over. His wife and 
two children continued to live in DeLand 
until his return. Pastors following Rev. 
Beck were Oscar Jones, Royal Ennis, 
Robert L. Steed, Albert L. Wood, O.L. 
Clapper, Winifred Johnson, Karl Krughoff , 
Kenneth C. Knox, Ralph E. Jasper, Harold 
Brown, Frederick Carl Stelzriede, Elmer 
N. Ditch, Donald Walden, Robert 
Mushrush, Rev. Charles Frandenburg, 
Rev. Shewhart and Jon Cockerel. The 
present pastor. Rev. Orin Watson came in 
June of 1972 from Decatur where he was 
Associate Pastor of the Grace United 
Methodist church. 

Late in the 1930's, most of the Methodist 
churches in the United States consolidated 
and became simply "The Methodist 
Church" dropping such words as 
Episcopal and Protestant. In a unification 
many changes of necessity occur in order 
to satisfy both sides. The young people's 



organization called the Epworth League 
became the Methodist Youth; the 
Women's organizations, the Ladies' Aid 
and the woman's foreign and Home 
Missionary societies were united under the 
name Women's Society of Christian 
Service (WSCS). Further Union of the 
Methodist and United Brethern a few 
years ago made a further change in name. 
The word United was added making the 
denomination The United Methodist 
church and the organizations. The United 
Methodist Women, the United Methodist 
Youth etc. 

Concerning the WSCS, the local 
organization had two divisions — the older 
women continued to meet as one group and 
the younger known as the "Guild" as 
another. But as time went on, the group 
became and worked as one group. (There 
was a previous organization called the 
Guild — a Sunday School class of young 
adult women organized aound 1909 and 
taught by Mrs. LB. Hurst.) 

Epworth League 

The Epworth League of the Methodist 
church was the organization of Young 
people in the church. It was established 
nationally about 1889 and there was a local 
organization from somewhere in the 90's 
until 1901 when it dwindled in membership. 
For about a year they did not meet, but in 
1902 they were re-organized and were 
active until their name was changed to 
Methodist Youth in the late 1930's. When 
they were re-organized in 1902, they had 
about 30 members and Rosella Tilson was 
president. Their activities reached a peak 
during and for a few years after the 
pastorate of Dr. Royal Ennis. Dr. Ennis 
four daughters of Epworth League age and 
they were instrumental with the help of a 
few faithfuls in swinging the work along. 
Often the League room was filled with 65 
or more young people and a few older ones. 
There didn't seem to be the age gap then 
that we hear so much about today. In 
addition to their regular activities which 
covered considerable ground, they con- 
ducted an Old Folks Day service at 
morning worship each October, helped 
with the evening service, giving occasional 
musical concerts, and had Gospel teams 
which presented programs at other 
churches. One of their regular activities 
was a monthly social at which all young 
people were welcome. The young people in 
those days had fewer school activities than 
they do now and had to provide for their 
own fun. There was also a point system in 
the district and a banner was awarded to 
the winner at a District convention. 
DeLand won second place one year and 
first the next. They hosted the convention 
several times. There was also a Junior 
League that met on Sunday afternoon. The 
Senior League met regularly on Sunday 
evening. 

-59- 



The Women's Foreign Missionary 
Society also had departments for the 
young people. They included Little Light 
Bearers for the youngest, King's Heralds 
for the grade school children and Standard 
Bearers for the teen age group. 

During the years following World War 
II . the membership of the church grew and 
during Rev. Walden's pastorate an ad- 
dition was built. The addition is of mat- 
ching brick and has two floors housing 
class rooms, the preacher's study, rest 
rooms and a small chapel. This has 
allowed the Sunday School classes space 
without using the sanctuary. The church 
now has an electric organ as well as the 
piano and an amplifying system by which 
chimes can be broadcast from the church 
tower. Both were given as memorials. The 
organ fund was made up of a bequest given 
by a former member and added to by 
various people in memory of someone. The 
amplifying system was also started as a 
memorial fund for Mr. and Mrs. D.B. 
Troxel who had been active in the music 
and missionary departments of the 
church. It was added to by various friends. 
The amplifying system was dedicated on 
the 50th anniversary of the church building 
in 1956. Mrs. John Adams, who had been 
organist for about 30 of those years played 
the organ for the services. Her brother, 
Rol Bickel, the oldest member of the 
church in point of service was present was 
John Leischner who had just finished 10 
years as Sunday School Superintendent 
Three of the Troxel children were present. 
Most of the anniversary services held from 
time to time have had a basket dinner at 
noon, followed by a reminiscing service in 
the afternoon. 

There are now no charter members 
living. The oldest member living from 
point of age is Mrs. Ora Holforty. There 
are several living who helped to build the 
church. Daisy Bickel Adams is probably 
the oldest in point of service, since she is 
the oldest person born in DeLand and 
began playing the organ as a young girl. 
Mrs. Roy Mulvain is now organist. 

In 1927, an unexpected event took place. 
Following the election of the Christian 
church, a committee was appointed to 
propose to the Methodists of DeLand that 
they both break off their relations with 
their respective state and national board 
and unite independently as a community 
church. They hoped to demonstrate that 
they believed in Christian Unity and were 
willing to practice it. As one member 
expressed it, "Our aim is to make one 
church prosper where two never have. 
Both churches are to some extent wasting 
their energies in a struggle for existence, 
whereas, if combined they would direct 
their energies toward making DeLand and 
the whole world a better place to live." 

At a meeting at the Methodist church, 
Rev. Lee, husband of a former resident, 
who worked in such a church, spoke. A 
committee composed of Mabel Walker, 
Carter Wisegarver and G.R. Hursh was 



appointed to meet with Dr. H.H. Peters, 
State Secretary of the Christian church 
and Dr. Havighurst of the Methodist 
church. They worked out a plan in which 
continued autonomy of each church was to 
continue, but that would allow them to 
work as a unit on local affairs. The plan 
failed — not because of lack of local in- 
terest — but because the higher authority 
in the Methodist church vetoed it. 

In their earlier days and sometimes 
recently, the two churches (and now the 
third) often united in such services as the 
Thanksgiving and Memorial Sunday 
services. And sometimes in the summer 
months they have held outdoor services, in 
the evening the preachers taking turns in 
the pulpit. Usually they had a combined 
choir. 

Although there have been many changes 
in the ways of doing things in the DeLand 
churches, all are still contributing to the 
spiritual needs of the village — a goal they 
have had from the very start. 

The Catholic Church 

There were a number of Catholic 
families in DeLand in the early days who 
attended church in Farmer City. When the 
roads were bad, it was a difficult trip so 
they began to think about building a 
church here. They started out to raise 
money and found the people of the com- 
munity sympathetic and generous with 
their contributions. In the April 12th, 1883 
paper, there was a letter from P.N. 
McGrath — the Catholic pastor — 
thanking those who had subscribed to the 
fund. He had obtained permission from the 
Bishop to build a church at DeLand. They 
hoped to get the foundation laid by May. 
The committee authorized to collect the 
subscriptions was: Thomas and Peter 
Finnegan, William Mclnney, H. Hughes, 
and J. Mulligan. 

By July nth, they had nearly completed 
the little building to be known as "St. 
Mary'sChapel."Itwasa neat, little frame 
building. If you doubt this, go over to the 
corner of 2nd street and Illinois Avenue 
and look for yourselves. It is now our 
voting place, now known as the "Town 
Hall." It was dedicated in August 1882. In 
1888 the pastor was the assistant priest in 
Monticello, who conducted 8 o'clock mass 
there and then came to DeLand to hold 
services. 

In 1897 the number of Catholics in 
Deland had dwindled and for several years 
the church stood abandoned. On June 10, 
1897 it was announced that the church 
would be sold and the proceeds from the 
sale with other collected funds would be 
used to build a new Catholic church in 
Weldon which was a larger Catholic 
community and of easier access to the 
priest who then came out of Clinton. It was 
expected that some other religious 
denommation would buy it. But no other 
denomination showed interest, and the 
Goose Creek Township board bought it and 



it became and still is the Township Hall. 
There are still a few Catholics in 
DeLand, but they attend mass at Farmer 
City or Monticello. They seldom have to 
worry about the state of the roads. 

Baptist Church 

The last church to be built in DeLand is 
the Baptist church which was started in 
the early I940's by Ernest Snodgrass, who 
held services in his home (where Harold 
Riggs now lives) and acted as pastor for 
the Baptists of DeLand and surrounding 
communities. In 1947 it was decided to 
build a church in the vacant lot north of the 
Snodgrass home where there had formerly 
been a garden. The plan was to dig and 
finish a basement, the members doing the 
work, and use it for services until they 
could afford to build the sanctuary above 
it. Chairs were bought from the High 
school which was putting new ones in the 
auditorium, and the basement room was 
quite comfortable and adequate for the 
time being. 

But alas, they were not to enjoy it for 
long. The rains came and like all other 
basements in the south part of DeLand, it 
filled up with water and everything in it 
was ruined. All they could do was to set 
fire to the burnable parts when they dried 
out and plow the rest under. 

Discouraged but determined, the 
congregation next bought the old Wigwam 
site in the north part of town and built a 
concrete block building to which they put 
on an addition in 1964. They now have a 
good sized congregation which is very 
active. Rev. Charles Neathery is now the 
pastor. 

The North Church 

There were three rural churches in 
Goose Creek township. In the days of 
muddy roads in Illinois, rural churches 
were not uncommon. Better roads and 
automobiles changed the scene, however, 
and today this township's rural churches 
are gone. The three in Goose Creek 
township were the North or South Prairie 
church a Union church three or four miles 
north of DeLand (hence the name North 
church). It stood on the Farmer City road 
just south of the road that divides Goose 
Creek township from Blue Ridge township. 
The other two were Kentuck and En- 
terprise churches. 

The North church was built in 1889. The 
people of that area known as the South 
Prairie Neighborhood because of the 
schoolhouse a little north of the church but 
in Blue Ridge Township. Thus the 
congregation was made up of residents of 
both townships. Some of these people, 
after the church was torn down trans- 
ferred their membership to Bethel church 
two miles east and a little north in Blue 
Ridge township. Bethel church still stands 

— 60 — 



and has an active congregation. People 
from DeLand were interested in the North 
church and sometimes attended and 
helped with activities there. Also, the 
Methodist pastors sometimes filled the 
pulpit. 

The North church was built in 1889. It 
was built late in the year, and by May of 
1890, it lay in ashes. Almost immediately, 
the rebuilding began. But disaster struck 
again. This time, a windstorm moved it off 
its foundation and racked it so badly that it 
was thought it would have to be torn down 
and rebuilt. But a contractor from Leroy 
succeeded in putting it back on the foun- 
dation and bracing it so well that it was 
stronger than in the beginning. The loss 
from the windstorm fell on the contractor 
as the building had not yet been turned 
over to the trustees. 

The church had many activities. Mrs. 
C.E. Holforty now of DeLand is one of the 
few living members. She played the organ 
and sang in the choir there. 

But the congregation dwindled after 
awhile and in 1913 its doors were closed. 
The building was sold to Smith Wisegarver 
who moved it to his home place north west 
of DeLand and converted it to a shed. 

Kentuck Church 

Kentuck church was organized by 
Frientje Goken. She came to this area 
from Germany in 1867 and married John 
Meents in 1868. The Meents held church 
services on their farm and later, church 
was built on their farm. They lived there 
until 1905. The church stood about a half- 
mile west of Ronnie Cooke's home. A 
cemetery was established there and is now 
cared for by the Township. There is only a 
lane leading to it. 

Kentuck neighborhood was settled by 
people of German descent. Many of them 
came here directly from Germany. The 
church dated back to 1890 when the Ger- 
man Baptist church Society was formed. 
In 1910, a new church was built on the road 
near the Coke house. The frame building 
was 32 by 40 feet with a Sunday School 
room and an auditorium that seated 200. 
There was a gasoline light system, a hot 
air furnace and a finished basement. It 
was dedicated on November 27,1910 with 
three services and a dinner following the 
morning service. The dedicatory sermon 
was preached by Rev. J.F. Mills of 
Decatur and an offering was taken to raise 
the remaining cost of the building. Miss 
Josephine Wheeler sang "The Holy City." 
The sermon in the afternoon was preached 
by Dr. E.E. Brand, of Springfield. The 
evening service was canceled because of 
the bad weather and muddy roads. And all 
but two of the Evangelistic meetings 
planned for the following week were also 
cancelled. The name of the church was 
changed to the Immanuel Baptist church. 
Rev. H.F. Armstrong of Oreana was the 
first pastor. Two former pastors ( in the old 
building) were present. They were Rev. 
James MeClure and Rev. J.M. Lively. 



The building committee was Rev. Arm- 
strong, Otto Lubbers, and Scott Henshaw. 
Mrs. Frank Edwards (Rentja Meyer) 
served as the first clerk. Other members 
included Mr. and Mrs. Reempt Lubbers, 
Mrs. Henshaw, Mr. and Mrs. Jurko 
Lubbers, Mr. and Mrs. Willard Wilkerson, 
Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Kingston, Mr. and Mrs. 
Sam Mull, Bessie Doss, Mrs. Dora Meyer 
and Mrs. Winnie Weets. 

Pastors following Rev. Armstrong were: 
W.E. Sharpes, R.N. Wood, Thomas 
Bishop, James Leischner, Robert Vance, 
Floyd Bandy and Ted Keith. Rev. Dish 
served the longest 10 years. New 

members were added from time to time 
and although the membership never weni 
above fifty at any one time, they were an 
active and interested group. The church 
held periodic revival meetings, en- 
tertained guest pastors and put on a 
Christmas program each year. 

As time went on, farms began to change 
hands, improved roads made it possible to 
retain their memberships in neighboring 
churches, and death made its inroads. The 
congregation dwindled and it was im- 
possible to continue, so the doors were 
closed. The trustees - Seymour Knisely, 
Aaron Woodall, and Arthur Lubbers were 
faced with the problem of disposing of the 
building. There was talk of having an 
auction, but in 1950 they learned that a 
newly formed Baptist congregation in 
Decatur needed furniture. The Kentuck 
people loaned them their church furniture. 
A little later, the Kentuck building was 
sold to the Decatur congregation for a 
nominal sum. A plot of ground near Lake 
Decatur was donated and the building was 
moved there. It was called the Lakeview 
Baptist church. Members of the new 
congregation included builders of various 
sorts, and the work of moving and 
reconstructing it was done by these people, 
who donated their work. The church 
ground in the Kentuck district reverted to 
the owner of the surrounding land, Robert 
Shonkwiler. Their remaining funds were 
given to the Hudson Baptist home for 
orphans in Vandalia. 

So passed the Kentuck Baptist church to 
continue its service in other communities. 



Enterprise Church 

The third country church stood in one of 
the nine sections in township 20. It was 
across the road from the rural school, also 
called Enterprise. The church building 
was built about 1894 and services were 
held there until the earlv twenties - 
possibly 1923 or 24. By that time it was like 
other country churches the 

congregation was getting smaller and 
smaller in number. The church was 
abandoned and stood unused until Sep- 
tember of 1933 when it was sold to the 
Farmer City Christian church. They had 
just lost their building from fire and 
bought the Enterprise church to replace it. 



The Enterprise church was a frame 
building seating about 200 people. The last 
pastor was Rev. Harold Thrall. Rev. 
Thrall was a Methodist preacher so I 
presume the church was a Methodist 
church. 

The writer has a vivid memory con- 
nected with her one and only visit to the 
church. Perhaps she shouldn't tell this 
story, but after 40 years, it still seems too 
funny to keep. In the I920's, the DeLand 
Epworth League of the Methodist Church 
had a Gospel Team. Occasionally, on a 
summer Sunday evening, some of the 
members would go to a neighboring 
church and conduct the evening service. 
They took along a leader to conduct the 
lesson, a song leader to lead the singing, a 
pianist, and usually, they gave one or two 
special musical numbers. On this oc- 
casion, Olive Mansfield was leader, and 
Bernice Swartz and I were to give the 
special number-a piano duet. Neither of us 
were great shakes on the piano and why we 
attempted it, we have never figured out. 
We practiced long and ardently and when 
the day came, we had it down perfect. Or 
so we thought! For when we seated our- 
selves at the piano and started playing it 
was a different story. In just a moment we 
were completely lost from one another. 
Had we had any gumption, we would have 
backed up and started over. But no, we 
blundered on. Finally, I simply gave up, 
whereupon, Bernice ended it with a 
flourish and with embarrassment, we took 
our seats. Olive was sitting on the platform 
and could see the reaction. On the way 
home we asked: "What did they do? Did 
they laugh?" "No," answered Olive. 
"They didn't laugh. They just looked 
pained.!" 

THE DELAND CEMETERY 

DeLand has a beautiful cemetery at the 
northwest corner of the village. It is on the 
hill lying directly north of the creek and 
south of Route 10. 

Originally, it consisted only of the south- 
west corner of the plat. As they were 
needed, the other three quarters were 
added. Only the northeast quarter is 
unused at the present time. 

The cemetery was laid out shortly after 
the village was founded. The first person 
buried there was Grandma Langdon. 
mother of Seth with whom she lived. 
Following is the obituary in the county 
paper of March 21, 1874: 

"At DeLand Station, Piatt Co, 111., 
February 26, 1874, occurred the death of 
Mrs. Sallie Langdon, aged 84. She was 
born AD. 1790 in the State of New York, 
was baptised into the Free Will Baptist 
church in 1815 and has ever been one of the 
'faithful'. Amid the infirmities of age. she 
leaned heavily upon the strong arm of her 
Saviour and realized that Jesus was her 
satisfying portion. 

-61 — 



"Her funeral was attended by a large 
procession of sympathizing friends; her 
remains consigned to the new cemetery 
adjacent to the village, where she rests in 
sure and certain hope of a blessed 
ressurection." 

There is little mention of the cemetery in 
the early days and how it was cared for is 
unknown. Probaby each family cared for 
its own lot, and someone with a scythe cut 
the tall grass once in a while in the sum- 
mer. It was only one-fourth its present size 
then and was undoubtedly like any other 
country cemetery. A Cemetery 
Association la corporation) was formed in 
the early nineties and a trust fund set up 
for its perpetual care. At this time, it was 
the aim for the earnings from this fund, 
which they invested, and fees from the sale 
of lots, to take care of the cemetery. 
However, in recent years, rising costs 
have made it a struggle to keep up the 
work and improvements from the limited 
earnings, so the trustees, taking ad- 
vantage of a recent state law, asked that 
the cemetery be turned over to the 
township for maintenance and care along 
with the other three burial grounds Piatt, 
Morain and Kentuck in the township. A 
resolution prepared by Attorney Carl 
Glasgow who was present at the meeting 
in 1952. stated that members of the 
Association believed that it was for the 
best interests of the Association's property 
d every kind and character be turned over 
to the township so that money could be 
obtained by general taxation for the 
support and care of these cemeteries. This 
was brought to a vote on April 1. 1952. The 
resolution passed and the cemetery 
trustees transferred their assets to the 
township. The trustees continued to take 
charge until an election and $1500 was 
levied for the cemetery fund for the next 
year. 

The three rural cemeteries had no 
means of support. All three were 
established early in the township so many 
of the pioneers of Goose Creek Township 
are buired in them. Piatt Cemetery has the 
distinction of being the burial place of the 
only Revolutionary war veteran in Goose 
Creek Township. Morain Cemetery is on 
the road to Monticello. And Kentuck is 
back in a field with only a lane leading to 
it. I do not think any burials take place in 
them now. Everett Maden is the care- 
taker for all four cemeteries and keeps 
them mowed. 



We Get A Civil War Cannon 

Toward the center of the west half of the 
DeLand Cemetery is a circle containing a 
flag pole where Decoration Day Services 
have always been held. I use to believe 
that there was an "Unknown Soldier" 
buried there. Whether there was or not, the 
circle was supposed to honor an unknown 
soldier from the Civil War. In 1911, through 
the influence of Congressman McKinley, 
DeLand cemetery received a handsome 



three inch Parrett gun of wrought iron, 
weighing 900 pounds unmounted. It was a 
relic of the Civil War and came from the 
arsenal at Rock Island. It was mounted on 
a concrete base in the circle in time for 
Decoration Day services that year. It was 
consisdered an ornament for the cemetery 
and a token of respect for the Civil War 
veterans. The gun remained there until 
1944, when scrap iron drives were held for 
iron to make armaments for World War II. 
It seemed patriotic to turn the gun in and 
this was done — the cannon being a part of 
44 tons of iron collected in one drive. 




Cemetery scene showing sundial 



A Two Hundred Seventy-four 

Year Old Sundial! 

"Time Flies!" 

Few people realize that the small white 
marker in the northeastern quarter of the 
cemetery is a true antique. The marker is 
really a sun-dial given to DeLand for the 
cemetery in 1924 — a gift of Robert 
Allerton of Monticello. Following is its 
history as given in the DeLand Tribune at 
the time of the gift. 

"Sundials belong to the gardens of 
romance. They tell the hours in church- 
yards, they are found on the walls of an- 
cient castles, and along the old causeways 
of England. 

"This old Enghsh sundial was found in 
1650 at Tellrock, near Tinturn, in Mon- 
mouthshire, England. It stood on the 
Wilton Bridge spanning the River Wye at 
Ross on Monmouthshire Road and was 
later placed in one of its sanctuaries. It has 
four faces with the inscription, "Time 
Flies". 

"In 1668, this sundial — a real beauty — 
was removed to the garden of the school- 
house and was mounted upon an ancient 
font brought from beside the church at 
some former restoration. Then for many 
years it stood at the famous Maude 
Heath's Causeway and was later 
presented to Lady Maude Probert at 
Bishopstone, Sussex, who died in 1676. 
Here the four dialed pillar stood until 1773, 
when it was overthrown by a part of 
desperadoes, who conceived the quaint 
notion that treasure was concealed 
beneath its base. They excavated it and 
found the spot empty. 

The sundial was not replaced, but oc- 
cupied a neglected corner of a stone- 



mason's yard for many years. It was 
purchased in 1802 by villagers of Way- 
bridge and re-erected at Waybridge as a 
memorial to the Duchess of York, who 
died in 1825. In 1890, this, with other garden 
relics was purchased by the John 
Wanamaker stores in New York and 
imported to this country. It was sold to 
Robert Allerton, who placed it in his 
beautiful garden where it stood until about 
a year ago when it was removed to give 
place to a greater statue. Mr. Allerton was 
a great collector of antiques and it is a 
pleasure to this community to be 
remembered with this gift and its 
history." 




3. It' 



Cemetery scene showing Chapel 



The Woman's Club 
Builds A Chapel 

In 1924, someone in the woman's club 
suggested that a chapel be built in the 
cemetery as a memorial to the soldiers of 
the first world war. It was to be built so 
that people from out of town could have a 
place to rest when bodies were brought 
here for burial. There was to be a plaque 
giving the names of the soldiers of Wrold 
War I from this community and one for the 
Civil War Veterans. The club would give 
an annual Home Talent play each 
November 11th (Armistice Day) until 
enough money was raised. Mrs. Donna 
Reid, who coached most of the town's 
numerous plays, was to coach the plays. 
Mrs. W.O. Jones coached some of them. 
Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea. 
The plays went on year after year except 
for one or two during the depression and 
finally yielded enough money with the help 
of individuals and organizations to start 
the building in 1936. It was finished and 
dedicated on Decoration Day in 1938. 
Addresses were made by Judge Burl Edie, 
Mrs. J.L. Borton, Mrs. Donna Ried, and 
Mrs. Lillie Rinehart, the widow of a Civil 
War veteran. 

The tentative list of veterans of World 
War 1 given in the paper numbered about 
sixty-four. 

Actually (and sadly), the building was 
not really finished and has never been used 
as intended. There is no water or heat or 

— 62 — 



light, no furniture, the World War I plaque 
was never made and roof was put on in 
such a manner that it leaks badly. Only a 
framed list of Civil War veterans was 
hung. The building has been used ex- 
clusively for storage. There has been talk 
among various groups of repairing it and 
finishing it. But fixing the roof alone would 
cost considerable, as would the cost of 
water, electricity and drainage of the 
plumbing. An oil stove could easily be used 
for heat. Nothing has come of the talk. It 
probably never will. But it a lovely 
building as seen from outside and adds to 
the attractiveness of the cemetery. 

Decoration Day 

Decoration Day services are held each 
year at the cemetery. The band and the 
veterans march from the Legion Hall to 
the Circle. There band music is played, the 
Invocation and address are given by the 
local pastors, and the Legion, followed by 
Auxiliary women, decorate the graves of 
all the veterans buried in the cemetery. 
The graves are marked with flags. 

This program has been followed for 
years except in the early days when the 
first stop was at the Wigwam where a 
musical program and addresses were 
given. If the weather was nice, the chairs 
were often carried out into the grove and 
the program held there. Then came the 
march to the cemetery with young women 
carrying the flowers. This was called 
Decoration Day, Memorial Sunday was 
held the Sunday before with the combined 
churches meeting at one of the churches 
with patriotic music and a patriotic ad- 
dress. 

The DeLand Cemetery is one of the 
loveliest cemeteries in this area. It is kept 
up well. And it is dotted with peony bushes, 
which are usually in bloom at Decoration 
Day. Visit it then, and you will agree that it 
is a bower of beauty. 



Biggest Little Town 



on Earth 



DeLand Centennial 



1873 - 1973 




Decoration Day Crowd in front of Wigwam 



^- 




GAR old soldiers on Decoration Day 



-63- 



READINandRITIN' 
and RITHMETIC 

You have read about the rural schools in 
the township. The DeLand children 
learned their three R's in a rural school 
until 1877 at the Bondurant School about a 
mile north and west of DeLand. In 1870, the 
people of Districts felt the need of a school 
and built one. The directors at the time 
were; M.D. Marvel, J.B. Walker, and T.E. 
Bondurant. They called a meeting for Jan. 
2, 1871 for the purpose of choosing a site for 
a schoolhouse, the kind of fence and out- 
buildings to build, when they should be 
built, and to vote a tax to pay for it all. 
Thirteen people voted on these questions 
including the three directors. The site was 
to be 10 rods east of the southwest corner of 
theSE'4 of Section 5, township 19, range 5 
east of the third principal meridian. 
(Across route 10 a little west of the 
cemetery on Bondurant land.) 

The building was to be 25 feet by 40 feet 
with "anty" room, studding 16 ft. long and 
the house finished in "good stile". A five 
board fence with cap and good posts and 
two privies 4 by 6, and a coal house 8 by 21 
was to be built. The school house was to be 
built in the spring of 1871 with the other 
buildings completed by October 1st, 1871. 
The tax issue carried. 

Bids were received from various firms 
and Dickey and Ziegler were hired to do 
the carpenter work and a Mr. Baits, the 
plastering. The plastering turned out to be 
a bad job and payment was held up until it 
was made right. It was called the Bon- 
durant school. They paid Bondurant for 
one acre of land. 

Some of the teachers in this building 
were Vesta Terril, Mary A. Brown, Anna 
Snodgrass, Allen Stults, Elizabeth 
Holloway, Joseph Van Vickel, Jesse Holm 
and William Wetzel. Those were the times 
of spring, summer and winter terms and 
some of these teachers taught only two or 
three months. Hence the big turnover of 
teachers. The older children did not go to 
school when there were crops to put in or to 
harvest. 

In 1887, it was decided that the school 
building ought to be in town. An election 
was called to settle the matter, but before 
the election, Mrs. J.H. Wood was hired to 
teach the school at forty dollars a month 
provided the schoolhouse was moved into 
town. If the building stayed in the country, 
she was to have $45 per month. 

An election was held on August 15th, 
1877. The questions were: For or against; 

1. Moving the school house into DeLand 
to the east half of block one. 

2. Building a new school house near the 
corner of John Mansfield's land where his 
and Regnold's and Dellemer's land joined. 

3. Buying or leasing land sufficient to 
make a good sized school yard for each of 
these school houses. 

4. Using the money on hand and due the 
district to build the new schoolhouse to be 
known as West DeLand. 




First three classes of the DeLand High School — 1895, 96, 97. 



All four propositions carried by a good 
majority. The Bondurant School was 
moved into town and West DeLand was 
built. West DeLand was nicknamed and 
known as the Hackberry School because it 
stood near a hackberry tree at the en- 
trance to the Bondurant farm, now oc- 
cupied by Wilbur Trimble. The tree was 
still there when route 10 was put in and was 
cut down at that time. District five was 
divided into two districts. The West 
DeLand School house was later moved to 
the corner, and was known as Western 
School. S. Mclntyre was paid $130 for 
moving the Bondurant School into town. 
T.E. Bondurant was to see that all 
necessary repairs be made when it arrived 
and they paid him $40 a lot for lots 8, 9, 10, 
U, 12, and 13 of block 1. These were the 
same lots on which the brick school 
(recently razed by W.B. Trenchard to 
make way for a new building site) stood. 

The county paper heralded the moving 
of the schoolhouse, 

"Sept. 5, 1877 - Our schoolhouse has 
started to town, it will probably be here in 
a few days. 

Sept. 26, Our schoolhouse which is now 
in town is being newly plastered and 
thoroughly repaired for the winter school. 

Oct. 24, The DeLand School will begin 
next Monday with Mrs. Dr. Wood as 
teacher." 

In the early 1880's, the number of pupils 
had increased until the little school 
building was filled to overflowing. The 
question was whether to build a new school 
building or put an addition on the old and if 
a new one was built, should they sell the 
old. 

Twenty-seven voters settled the 
propositions, they were against all three 
propositions. So they solved the problem 
another way. They leased the upstairs 
room above the Chamberlain store. The 
contract allowed them to use the two east 
rooms. The board was to remove the 

— 64 — 



partition between the two but was to 
replace it when the term closed. Cham- 
berlain put a partition in the hallway near 
the west entrance, put hat and coat hooks, 
and repaired the outside stairway. They 
paid him $5.00 a month rent for six months. 
They transferred the four higher grades to 
this building for the rest of the year. 

At the meeting at which the move was 
planned, it was resolved that in the ad- 
vanced department, all pupils would take 
all seven common branches; Reading, 
writing, spelling, arithmetic, grammar, 
geography, and history of the United 
States. All pupils in the fourth grade and 
above were required to take examinations 
and make an average of 70. Other teachers 
who taught before the four room building 
was built were: Amanda Miller, John 
Keller, L.S. Kidd, J.G.W. Smith, B.F. 
Stults, Attie Foster, Mrs. Carrier, Ida 
Widney, Nina Hale and Wiley Dewees. 
Some of these taught at the school called 
West DeLand. 

In 1884, the proposal to build an addition 
to the school was voted down. Also in 1884, 
G.L. Brown was given the use of the school 
yard to pasture his cow. What a lawn 
mower! 

In 1886 or 87, the vote for a new 
schoolhouse carried. It was announced 
that DeLand erect a commodious school 
building fashioned after the Monticello and 
Atwood buildings but with the cloak rooms 
omitted. It was built immediately and 
contained four class rooms, but only three 
were used until 1892 when the High School 
was established. The building was heated 
by a hot air furnace. The teachers were 
James Hicks, principal; Edith Hubbard, 
intermediate; and Etta McFadden, 
primary. At first the high school consisted 
of the first two grades (9th & 10th) taught 
by the principal. There were no rural 
children and if one did come, he paid 
tuition. (The ninth and tenth grades were 
also taught in the rural schools. ) The tenth 
and eighth grades were required to take a 
final examination given by the county 



superintendent and were granted a county 
diploma This continued as long as there 
was a village school even though the third 
year had been added. Graduates of the 
three year course received a diploma from 
the school itself. The four year course was 
not added until 15)17 when the township 
high school district was formed. 

The first class graduated in 1895, con- 
sisted of nine graduates: Nannie Am- 
mann. Frona Bowsher, Ray Campbell, 
.Jessie Dresback, Lizzie Fuller, Maggie 
(iordon. Maude Kesler, Delta Parsons. 
ClydeSUiley was the principal. Only one is 
ali\ e today. Jessie Dresback Ennis lives in 
Champaign, Mr. Porter and Maggie 
(iordan Adams have died recently. 

There was a big crowd at the Wigwam 
the evening of April 19th, lH9,=i, when the 
lirst commencement took place. En- 
thusiasm ran high as the audience cheered 
the entrance of seven sweet girl graduates, 
trembling but triumphant, and h\o of the 
sterner sex who scorned to show their 
nervousness. As the orations (given by 
each graduate I were finished and they 
leturned to their chairs, they were 
overwhelmed with flowers sent by ad- 
miring friends. F]verybody was there; 
everybody was happy; everybody was 
proud. As the evening passed into history, 
from the "Wigwam doors stepped the first 
alumni." 

On the program besides the orations by 
the graduates were several selections by 
two quartettes. 

Ten classes were graduated from the 
High School before the building burned in 
1904 The eleven members of the class of 
1H98 had the honor of being the largest 
class graduated and the class of 1902 was 
the smallest. 



1 




H 


^^^^^^^^^D^ ^^^^^^^^^^r^j.. 


J 


1l I III Iw 


i 


-^^P^i 



I room rriiinc school that burned in I9IM. 



The building burned in August of 1904 
and the six room brick building was built 
on the same site. Until .January of 190.5 the 
classes were scattered here and there over 
town in halls and churches. 

The new brick building was used for both 
grade and high school until 1921. when the 
High School moved into the new Township 



High School building. This allowed the two 
grade rooms to be divided and each of the 
first six grades have a room to itself. The 
vote for the Township High School was in 
1917 but due to delays in the building, the 
first three classes were housed in the 
grade building adding three classes to the 
i:! others that were graduated from the 
village High School building. The class of 
1906 was an all girl class (of three). "The 
class of 1909 excluded all girls and were 
properly repaid two years later in 1911 
when seven maids graduated without a 
single mere man to interfere." 




LliL'-vii ivH 

-r • rr J-: r ■? -- 



IbijiLL 



lirick school that replaced it 

While the class of 1918 was the first to 
graduate from the township school, the 
class of 1921 was the first to be graduated 
from the township building. Many of the 
graduates of the three year high school 
finished by going elsewhere for their 
fourth year. 

There are pictures of nearly all the 
graduates of the Township High School at 
the Carnegie Library in Deland. They 
became a problem at the high school 
building after it became a grade school 
and the Library board took them to 
preserve them. 

During the 25 years of the DeLand High 
School, the following principals served. 
Clyde Staley. EC. Graybill. H.S. Davis. 
Arthur Verner. Noah Young. H.H. Kirk- 
patrick. O.N, Kiger, H,L. Dyer, Leo 
Stuckey. Francis Thompson, Otto 
Weedman and Lewis Bowyer. Only Mr. 
Bowyer is alive today. He lives in Arizona. 
To the writer's knowledge, no grade school 
teachers of that period are alive. There are 
several village High School graduates still 
living in DeLand, and a number away 
from here that graduated after 1911. Those 
living in DeLand are: Mrs, Marie Gantz. 
Harriet McBride Bowsher, Lola Bickel 
Trigg, William G. Trigg, Lorin Borton and 
Grace Paugh. The members of the class of 
1916, the last to graduate from the village 
school were: Lorin Borton, Faye Cox 
Keller, Carleton Haggard, Guy O'Brien, 
and Harold Porter. All but Borton con- 
tinued in school the next year as the first 
class to graduate from the Township High 
School Other members of the first class 
were Glenn Bosler and Glenn Kiley. WO, 
Jones was the first principal of the 
Township High School and stayed longer 
than any other principal until 1936-37. 

— 65 — 



The Township High School building was 
opened for school work on January 20, 
1921 On Friday, January 28, an open house 
was held and a program was given by the 
High School orchestra and band. Students 
conducted visitors over the building and 
explained it to them. The changing of the 
school from a village to a township school 
meant that for the first time, rural school 
children could attend a high school 
without paying tuition, and the establish- 
ment of a four year high school made it no 
longer necessary for DeLand students to 
go out of town for their fourth year in high 
school. The pupils in the nine sections of 
township 20 were declared non-high school 
district and the tuition paid in the schools 
of their choice. Some went to Weldon, 
Cisco and Monticello as well as DeLand. 
Later the nine sections became part of 
some of these high school districts. 

The History of the Township High School 
building is summarized from the annual 
"DELANOIS", volume three published in 
May, 1921: 

By petition circulated by E.T. McMillen 
and signed by one-fifth of the voters and 
filed in the County Superintendent's Of- 
fice, the district could call an election to 
vote on a new Township. High School. This 
was in 1915. The district was then allowed 
to elect a board of education. The board 
elected consisted of J.B. Porterfield, 
president; LA. Crown, secretary; M.F. 
McMillen, C.H. Porter, HE. Bickel, R.B. 
Hubbart. and W.T. Haggard. This board 
made plans for a building on ten acres of 
land at the southwest corner of town. 
Because of disagreements and arguments 
as to the legality of the proceedings, the 
matter was taken to these courts and 
finally to the State Supreme Court which 
declared the plans unconstitutional. 

In the spring of 1917 a law called the 
validating act was passed and gave 
districts already organized permission to 
go on with their plans. The Board of 
Education hired three teachers, then three 
more and took over the management of the 
Orchestra. The High School district was 
numbered 112 and consisted of the 45 
sections in township 19 and six sections in 
Blue Ridge township. (Some of these were 
later petitioned out). Five of the ten acres 
in the option were secured and the building 
started by Pillinger Co. of Chicago on the 
lOth of October 1919. It was to have been 
finished by September 1, 1920 but various 
delays including an injunction by some of 
the taxpayers who were opposed to it, 
delayed the opening until January 20th, 
1921. 

The building is a large two story 
structure with a gymnasium on the east 
and an addition on the west to accomodate 
a shop and lunchroom. The latter was built 
in the forties with money left by the 
Lancaster estate. There was a complete 
water system, a kitchen and laboratory 
furnished with gas. new equipment for the 
Home Ec and Agricultural departments 
besides several classrooms. The school 



was accredited by the State and the U of I. 
Each student had to have 16 credits to 
graduate. 

There was a band, an orchestra, annual 
oratorical contests, an annual year book, 
and a commercial department. Sports 
were basketball and track and spring 
baseball. There was physical training for 
girls. It was much different than the old 
village school with its one or two teachers 
and knowledge gained only by books. 

There were several long time teachers in 
the DeLand Schools. Miss Caroline Boling, 
the first Home Ec. teacher, remained for 
many years as did the Misses Rebecca and 
Grsce Gray and Miss Nellie Amidon in the 
grade school. DeLand had good, dedicated 
teachers and the education received by the 
children showed it. 




I'liit sihools of DeLand-Weldon on county 
lint'. 



THE ERA OF CONSOLIDATION 

In 1945. the enrollment of the rural 
schools had dwindled to a point where it 
seemed sensible and economical to con- 
solidate them. The districts of the town- 
ship agreed and the schools were closed 
and the children brought into town by bus. 

In 1947, the Weldon and DeLand schools 
were consolidated by vote of the two school 
districts. The Nixon and Goosecreek 
township High Schools were also con- 
solidated at the same time and the large 
district became a Community Unit 
District, numbered 57. The purpose was to 
provide better education at a lower cost. 
The Goose Creek township building 
became the High School; the Nixon 
township building became the Junior 
High; and each town retained its grade 
school through the first six grades. 

In 1950, voters O.K.'d a new High School 
proposal. It was built on route ten at the 
county line between Nixon and Goose 
Creek townships. It is a modern High 
School building with gymansium and 
swimming pool. 

Nixon township high school building was 
continued in use as a Junior High until 1967 
when it was destroyed by fire. The DeLand 
grade school had in the meantime, moved 
into the old high school and most of the 
Junior High classes were held there for the 
rest of the year. This was not too bad as the 
Junior High burned in May and school was 
about over. 

The Board of Education decided to 



rebuild, but to put the new building on the 
campus of the High School. The burned 
building was covered by insurance. By 
adding a little to the insurance they were 
able to add enough space to the Junior 
High building to accommodate the grade 
school pupils from both towns. The 
new building was finished in 1969 and the 
grade pupils moved into it. The moving 
was a marvel of efficiency. The pupils 
carried their own books in a shopping bag 
and room by room, they were loaded on the 
bus. Each grade's departure was followed 
by a truck which had speedily loaded the 
furniture of that room and met them at the 
new building where the furniture was 
placed and the children walked in with 
their books. The DeLand School was 
moved in the morning and the Weldon in 
the afternoon. They hardly missed a class. 
All of the old buildings were sold. The old 
village school was bought by W.B. Tren- 
chard who has razed it to make room for 
new building sites. The Goose Creek 
township High building was sold to Joe 
Crawford and houses the Quality Water 
Co. 




Kr;ink Wrcnili, former superintendant and 
conn(v snp. 



ATHIETKS 

Athletics has been important in 
DeLands High School. Even the old 
village school had basketball games in its 
back yard after school. The township 
school caused its importiince to grow and 
over the years there have been several 
winning teams that won in District and 
Sectional tournaments. In 1946, the team 
won the Sangamon Valley title and again 
In 1947 but bowed out in the regional. In 
197U both the Middle School lightweights 

— 66 — 



and the heavyweights won in the district 
meet. In 1960, football was added to the 
athletic program and shortly thereafter 
the football field was provided with 
lighting for night games. 

Today, the community has two modern 
buildings, two gymnasiums, a swimming 
pool used part time by adults, an 
auditorium where community en- 
tertainments as well as school en- 
tertainments can be held. Also athletic 
contests, annual plays and musical en- 
tertainments and a lunch program 
provides the noon meal for the children. 
All this is a far cry from the little one room 
schoolhouses the two communities used to 
begin with. 



A CARNEGIE LIBRARY 
FOR A SMALL TOWN 

It was in 1912 that the Carnegie Library 
in DeLand opened its newly varnished 
doors to the public. It had been a long hard 
pull to accomplish this, but the community 
had at last something to be proud of. 
There had been talk for many years of 
getting a library. As early as 1884, Merle 
Widney, ison of the Union church pastor) 
who was attending school at LaHarpe, was 
home for a visit and made an effort toward 
the establishment of a circulating library J 
here. Reporter's comment: "We sincerely 1 
hope that he may succeed as the enterprise 
is a commendable one." Evidently he 
didn't succeed. There was other talk of a 
library from time to time, but it took the 
Woman's club, organized at the turn of 
the century, to really talk it up. They went 
so far as to fix up a small room at the 
grade school for a library. A bookcase, 
table and chairs were installed and the 
windows were adorned with curtains. 

About 1909, Bruce Rinehart, assistant 
cashier at the National bank came across 
an article m a magazine, telling of the 
encouragement Andrew Carnegie was 
giving the Library movement by giving 
Library buildings to various communities. 
Kmehart. whose mother was an active 
club woman, knew of the movement in 
woman's club toward a Library, and 
recognized an opportunity. He thought 
what a fine thing it would be for DeLand 
and mentioned it to a number of people 
who scoffed at the idea of Carnegie giving 
such a building to a little town like ours. 
Finally, Tom McMillen. cashier of the 
State bank and an actively public spirited 
citizen, said to him: "Why don't you write 
to find out ' " And write he did The first 
answer was negative, but he turned the 
project over to Mrs. G.R. Trenchard, 
president of the woman's club, and she 
finally got results. Carnegie agreed to give 
Goose Creek township $8,000 for a building 
provided they had a library in operation, a 
place to put the library building and a tax 
voted to support it. 

The first condition was easy. Members 
of the Woman's club and other interested 
citizens took some books from their own 



shelves, delivered them to the telephone 
office where the operator, Mrs. Mattie 
Motherspaw, a clubwoman, acted as 
Librarian. The second requirement was 
also soon settled. After considerable 
discussion and consideration of several 
sites. Miss Mary Bondurant gave the lots 
upon which to build it. 

The third condition took a little more 
doing. It was necessary to convince the 
voters that a library was desirable and 
that their vote was needed. The Woman's 
club, who had a knack of getting things 
done, started this task with spirit. The 
township is a large one and these were 
horse and buggy days. Mrs. Donna Reid's 
father, W H. Chapin. had a sorrel horse 
named Daisy. Kach afternoon, Mrs. Reid 
and some of her fellow club members rode 
in a surrey behind old Daisy into the 
country and talked Library. Other club- 
women were busy working on their friends 
and neighbors in town. Then came voting 
day. It was a day to be long remembered 
by the women. It simply poured! Un- 
daunted, the women donned boots and 
raincoats, raised their umbrellas and took 
their stand at street corners to remind 
passing voters that this was the day of 
decision. It paid off. The vote was over- 
whelmingly for the library. 

Six trustees were elected that day. E.T. 
McMillen. Clvde Porter ( who remained on 
the board until his death in 1959, serving 
most of that time as president) , Miss Mary 
Bondurant. Mrs. Margaret Hurst, J.H. 
Campbell and George Hosier. (One of the 
mles required two clubwomen on the 
board ) Soon thmgs were rolling, bids were 
submitted and the contract let to F.E. 
Krahl of Danville. 

Miss Mabel Rodman was selected as 
Librarian and went to the U of I for a short 
course in Librarianship. J.H. Cobb was 
appointed custodian Books were ordered 
and catalogued and on November 30, 1912, 
the library was opened to the public. 

Dedication exercises were held on 
December 2. 1912 in the Methodist church 
with Open House afterwards at the 
Library. Addresses were given by Charles 
Mcintosh, county superintendent of 
schools, and by George Reutley of 
Chicago, secretary of the American 
Library Association. Music was furnished 
by a quartette under the direction of D.B. 
Troxel 

The building is :!() by 47 feet and is of 
dark red brick trimmed in stone with 
copper cornices. The main floor is divided 
into two large rooms by a foyer containing 
the charging desk. Each large room is 
divided into two rooms separated by 
double book stacks, allowing a room for 
adult fiction, one for adult non fiction, a 
children's room and a combination 
reference, magazine and work room. It is 
all finished m fumed oak with matching 
lurniture There is a full basement with 
space for a gas furnace, a periodical 
storage room, another storage room lor 
seldom used books and two rooms used by 




(';iriic}jif Library 



the women's clubs for meeting room and 
kitchen. Originally the building was 
heated by a coal furnace. The storage 
room was originally the fuel room. The 
kitchen was finished a few years ago with 
electric stove, refrigerator, water heater 
and sink by W.B. Trenchard in memory of 
his mother, Mrs. George Trenchard, and 
his aunt. Miss Mary Bondurant, both of 
whom were charter members of the 
woman's club and had much to do with the 
establishment of the Library. Mr. Tren- 
chard, himself, was a trustee of the 
Library for 35 years and was president of 
the board. 

The Library began with 800 volumes. 
The number is now closer to 10,000. In the 
past five or six years, the DeLand Library 
has become a member of the Lincoln 
Trails System who lends books to its 
member Libraries and takes the place of 
the State Library which is now exclusively 
a Research Library. The System also 
lends records, art prints and films. 

In 1947, C.K. Lancaster left a legacy to 
the library which permitted the trustees to 
insulate the ceiling and install more 
modern lighting. After the death of Clyde 
Porter his daughter, Maxine Thorn- 
borrow, and family gave a gift which was 
used for a light over the front steps in 
memory of her father. Numerous other 
gifts, such as books, have been given. 

There have been three Librarians and 
seven custodians. Miss Rodman remained 
until 1945. Her place was filled by Miss 
Grace Paugh, a retired school teacher, 
who retired in 1965. after 21 years but 
continued as substitute librarian, working 
regularly on Saturdays for five more 
years. Her place as librarian was taken by 
Miss Zelda Marvel, another retired 
teacher. Her place as substitute was taken 
by Miss Helen Baker. There were a 
number of substitutes. I'robably the one 
working the longest was Mrs. Bertha 
Turnipseed who worked several years for 
both Miss Rodman and Miss Paugh. Mrs. 
Marjorie Huisinga also substituted for the 
latter during her last years as Librarian. 
The seven custodians were Mr. Cobb, Otis 
Gray, Sherman Parrish, C.E. Thompson, 
Edward Leischner, Mr. and Mrs. Harold 
Clifton and Louis Kallembach, Jr. who is 
the present custodian. Mr. Parrish, who 
took over the work in 1915, stayed on the 



67 



job for 44 years. 

With the approach of the Library's fif- 
tieth anniversary, in 1962, the building 
received a complete renovation, including 
a new roof, some plastering and re- 
decoration. Open house was held on the 
Homecoming day that year with exhibits 
of some of the original 800 books, best 
sellers, cataloguing procedures, new 
books and pictures from the village's past. 
A number of persons pitched in and acted 
as guides and refreshments were served 
by the trustee's wives. The following week, 
school children were given a tour of the 
library. Over 600 people saw the displays 
and the building, and started us off on its 
second fifty years. 

The present board of directors are: 
president, Edwin Reed; secretary, Don 
Hermann; Trustees, Marjorie Huisinga, 
George Timmons, Francis Kallembach, 
Loveta Borton and Joanne Clifton. 

When the building was built in 1912, 
DeLand was said to be the smallest town in 
the country to ever have a Carnegie 
Library. This is not true today, but the last 
census indicated that we are still the 
smallest town in the State of Illinois to 
have one. And there are not many smaller 
towns in the other states with such a 
library. Often it has visitors passing by 
drop in who can't believe so small a town 
could have such a building. 

DeLand is proud of its Library and its 
facilities for helping the public. 

ORGA.MZATIONS AND 

MORE «)R(;amzations 

DeLand has always been thoroughly 
organized. By that, I mean that there have 
always been many organization in the 
town that have contributed to the further 
education of the adults and also to their 
pleasure. The churches have always had 
organizations within their framework such 
as the Ladies' Aid. the Missionary 
Societies. Men's clubs, young peoples 
organizations such as the Epworth 
League, the Christian Endeavor, and 
Standard Bearers; and organized Sunday 
School classes. The schools, too, have 
included organized literary societies, 
debating teams, library clubs. Girl's 
basketball clubs, music organizations. All 
of these contributed to the benefit of the 
church and schools but furnished 
recreation for all. The earliest recreation 
was furnished by the church and school. 
They had suppers, various kinds of 
■festivals," spelling bees, singing schools. 

The first organization outside of the 
churches that is mentioned very early in 
the town's history was a literary society 
formed in 1875. At its second meeting, 
officers were elected and a constitution 
and bylaws were prepared. Their 
program for this second meeting was to be 
a debate (subject not given by the 
reporter) but it ended up in a mock trial of 
one member who refused to state the 
question to be debated. It turned out to be 
hilarious and he was declared guilty and 



lined 25 cents. 

At the next meeting they were to debate 
the question "Resolved that education 
should be made compulsory." lit wasn't 
compulsory in those days.) It was a good 
question for debate in view of the fact that 
in the local district, only 26 of the 63 pupils 
enrolled, were present the first day of 
school ! 

Names mentioned at that meeting were: 
President — Walker; Members — J.P. 
VanVickel, Mr. Willis, R.B. Moody, J.W. 
Davis. Mr. Vail, Mrs. Morris and Mrs. 
Frettinger. Meetings were held at the Hall 
every Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. 
There is no further record of "The Young 
America Literary Society." 

In 1888 another Literary Society was 
organized which seemed to be connected 
with the school in some way although there 
was no high school as yet and it included 
young people of the community above 
school age. It met each Friday evening 
and had a program which included music, 
readings, addresses and on one occasion, 
the gourp held a vote on the choice of a new 
postmaster. In December of 1889 the 
meetings were growing in interest and 
they were contemplating giving an en- 
tertainment, proceeds to be used to buy an 
organ. 

There was a very active literary society 
in the 1890's. Whether or not this was the 
same organization as that just mentioned 
is not known, but the YWCU (Young 
Women's Christian Union) and the Young 
People's Christian Endeavor known as the 
"Y " were both active in it as was the 
WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance 
Union). They held regular monthly 
meetings in the homes, occasionally giving 
a drama with music between acts. They 
also had songs, papers on poets or 
musicians, debates and discussions. One 
meeting was taken up entirely by a study 
of Whittier and his poems; another on 
Bryant. There were departments on 
Literature, Narcotics, Temperance, a 
flower mission and contest work. Their 
efforts, by way of a boycott, succeeded in 
closing DeLand's billard hall. They con- 
ducted temperance meetings and spon- 
sored gold medal contests. (Mrs. Emma 
Welch says she won a silver medal at one 
of these contests and later was active in 
the organization.) The town as a whole, 
disapproved of some of the club's ac- 
tivities but the society flourished and 
lasted for several years with most of the 
town's younger people active members of 
it. 

Evidently, this Literary Society was 
very much like the clubs we have today 
with its departments and activities except 
that it was purely local and not affiliated 
with larger organizations as are Woman's 
clubs. Lodges and the Legion and its 
Auxilary. 

The earliest Lodges were started in 1883 
and the Woman's Club in I'JOO. The Odd 
Fellows is the oldest Lodge here today and 
the Senior Woman's club, the oldest club. 



Other Lodges that have been in DeLand 
are the present Rebekkah Lodge and the 
Masons which are still in existence and the 
Modern Woodman, the Royal Neighbors, 
Good Templars; Knights of Pythias. 
Wartime and after war organization have 
been the GAR, The Sons of Veterans, the 
Legion, and its Auxiliary. 

Woman's organizations included the two 
women's clubs, the Liberty Hour club, the 
Household Science Club, the Priscillas, the 
Home Extension, a music club, a garden 
club and a number of social clubs in- 
cluding a bridge club which has continued 
lor a long time. 

Good Templars 

The Good Templar Lodge organized in 
1883, was the first Lodge mentioned in the 
papers. Not much was given concerning it 
but it was announced that they would have 
an ice cream festival at Kirker and Por- 
ter's new elevator. This was in August. In 
October of 1890 they held a Good Templar 
county convention here. When they 
disbanded is not known. 

Mention was once made of an "Owl's 
Club " that had a picnic on the Sangamon. 

And in 1898. a new insurance Order 
called the Loyal Sons of America was 
organized and promised to grow large, but 
evidently didn't. 

Modern Woodman of America 
And the Royal Neighbors 

There was an active Modern Woodman 
Lodge here for a time. When it was 
organized or when disbanded in unknown. 
But there was a few items concerning 
them. 

"June 1891 — Sermon for Modern 
Woodman was preached by Elder Holton 
of the Christian Church at 2 : 30, after which 
they marched to the cemetery and 
decorated the grave of Neighbor 
Wisegarver." 

"May, 1902 — Entertainment given for 
the benefit of the Modern Woodman of 
America by the Ideal Entertainers. It was 
expected to be one of the finest en- 
tertainments to ever visit the village. 'It is 
good for the mental man as well as the 
physical man to go occasionally and have 
a good laugh.' " The Ideal Entertainers 
program was a success. The program 
consisted of illustrated songs, musical 
novelties and motion pictures. They were 
asked to return at the next season. 

According to a report of an anniversary. 
The Royal Neighbor Organization began in 
1890 on March 23rd and the local camp in 
1897. However, there seemed to have been 
a camp before then because an item in an 
1890 newspaper announced that the Royal 
Neighbors (of DeLand) initiated seven in 
November of that year. 

According to the 1915 newspaper, there 
were 22 charter members. It was called 
Fern Camp. It grew rapidly until in the 



68- 



early 1900's when interest in it dropped. In 
1914. some of the members decided it 
should be revived. They initiated 18 
members. There were two interesting 
items in the old papers: 

In 1890, the RNA (Royal Neighbors of 
America) gave an ice cream and 
strawberry festival. The band made fine 
music for a large crowd. 

In 1902, The Royal Neighbors presented 
Rol Bickel a beautiful gold ring in ap- 
preciation of his musical services ren- 
dered at their installation of officers. The 
Order was still active in the 1940's and 50's 
but after the death of some of the most 
active members, some of the members 
transferred to the Monticello Lodge and 
the local became inactive. There are still a 
few Royal Neighbors in DeLand. 



Knights of Pythias 

The Knights of Pythias Lodge was 
organized here on Dec. 13, 1900. In 1890, a 
Bement man had tried to organize such a 
Lodge here, but there was no interest until 
1902. They elected and installed officers 
that same evening. Knights present from 
other towns number 103. In 1902, they 
bought carpet and chairs from Trigg's 
furniture store to use in the hall they 
shared with the Masons. The Pythians had 
a picnic in September of 1902. It was a big 
affair. The Newspaper heading read "It 
was a Banner Day." According to a long 
article announcing and reporting on the 
occasion, the weather man did his best. A 
large crownd gathered in the Wigwam 
Park where they had a program — music 
by the band, a welcome address by Dr. 
L.W. Reed, the Response by L.C. Clav of 
Bloomington, music by the Lee Brothers 
(Jubilee singers), and prayer by Elder 
Holton. 

After dinner a business meeting was 
held, Cisco was selected as the site of the 
1903 picnic and officers were elected. At 1 
p.m. the consolidated bands of Cerro 
Gordo, Cisco, Clinton and DeLand — 72 
players in number, gave a concert under 
the direction of Thomas McMillen of 
DeLand. Other musical numbers followed 
and several addresses were given. 
Speakers were Grand Chancellor Charles 
H. Gushing of Chicago, Clarence Alden- 
derfer of DeLand, and Rev. Charles 
Varney of Clinton. After the speaking, 
there were contests and other amusements 
(fat man's race, base ball, etc.) As a fit- 
ting close to the day, the knights met in the 
local Lodge room and put two promotion 
candidates through the degree in good 
shape. 

The ME Ladies Aid Society served the 
meal and the receipts were $92.75. 
Strangers expressed themselves as 
pleased at the orderly way the picnic was 
carried on. 

The Lodge was reorganized in 1914 after 
4 years of no meetings. It was known as the 
20th Century Lodge no. 603. In 1915 it had 25 
or 30 members. No further information. 



The Odd Fellows 

The Odd Fellows seemed to be the most 
active of the early Lodges and is in 
existence today, being 90 years old this 
coming August. They were organized 
August 27, 1883. The insUiliation of the first 
officers was carried out by a special of- 
ficer named Holloway from Farmer City, 
assisted by AT. Piphcr. There were 
several guests present from Monticello, 
Mansfield, and Farmer City besides the 
installing officials. The new Lodge was 
identified as DeLand lOOF No. 740. 
Fourteen applicants were put through in 
approved style. The following officers 
were chosen and installed: Noble Grand — 
Dr. .l.H. Wood; Vice-Grand — M. Doyle, 
Secretary — Rodman; Treasurer — R. 
Merry. 

A number of activities of this Lodge was 
mentioned from time to time. In April of 
1884 they gave a festival. And in December 
of that same year, they installed new of- 
ficers at the M.K. Church. They were: 
KB Moody, N.G.; J. II. Cobb, C.G.; Wiley 
Dewees. S.C. Rodman, financial 

secretary; H.G. Porter, Treasurer. Where 
they met before 1890 is not mentioned, but 
in March of that year a room was fitted up 
over the bank to be occupied by the Odd 
Fellows and other societies. In April of 
I8!H) they had a grand time when 22 
brothers of the Monticello Lodge assisted 
in conferring degrees on two members. 

New officers in 18;)2 were: H.C. 
Marquiss, N G.; J Rinehart, V.G.; K.B. 
Moody, Sec; and J.W Cypers, Treas. 

In ,Junc of June of 18!I4, they conducted 
memorial services at the Methodist 
Church An in October of that year, they 
celebrated their 11th birthday Members 
and a large number of friends assembled 
at the Wigwam with music by the DeLand 
band and a bountiful supper. This was 
followed by a program including in- 
strumental music by DC. Fortman of 
Lodge; solos by Maude Gessford; ad- 
dresses on Odd Fellowship by a Mr. 
Tatman. and Capt. H.C. Marquiss. All 
departed chuckful of Odd Fellowship. 

On the evening of April 14. 1897, the 
members received a surprise. Their wives 
appeared at the door with well filled 
baskets and demanded admittance. Of 
course, they were refused while the order 
was engaged in secret affairs, but the 
business was soon suspended. The doors 
were opened and all enjoyed a fine supper. 
Alter that the insUilling officers held that 
piu-t of the installation that could be made 
in public and a fine time was enjoyed by 
all 

Records of the Odd Fellow Lodge were 
destroyed in the fire of 19:!:! At that time, 
they were meeting in a room above the 
corner building occupied by the Pioneer 
cream station The Lodges record show 
the first insUillation to have been August 
2(ith but the old papers give the date as the 
27th According to Lodge records, the 
charter was issued on November 22nd, 
189:1 Charter members are listed as Wood, 



Doyle, Merry and also II. H Fuller and 
,lohnTeter. The paper also listed one of the 
Rodmans but did not give the initials. 

The following people are given as those 
earning ,50 year pins: The dates are their 
acceptance into the Order: JO. Barnes, 
Feb. 2:1, 1899; G.J. Timmons, Aug. 29, 1901; 
Frank Timmons, April :i, 1902; Charles 
Simmons ' 1902; Clark Olson, March 2, 
1911 and Joseph Bealor, Aug. :il, 1911, 

The officers elected for I97:i are: Noble 
Grand, G.E. Jayne; Vice Grand, Russell 
Durbin; Secretary, John M Lei-schner; 
Treasurer. Oral Miller. Leischner has held 
the office of secretary for 25 to 30 years. 

The Kebekahs 

The Rebekah Lodge has been organized 
twice in t)eLand. In February of 1902 the 
■Daughters of Rebekah Lodge' was 
organized with :!() charter members. What 
became of this Lodge is unknown but it 
was out of existence before Mignonette 
Rebekah Lodge 2M\ was instiUited on June 
17th. 191 1 by Dora L. North with :!,S charter 
members. Alice Souders was the first 
Noble (irand. To date, the Lodge has had 
44 Past Noble Grands. At the present time 
they have 18. 

The present Lodge is a very active 
Lodge, not only in their own community 
but in the district. In their own com 
munity, they are noted for their helpful 
ness in time of need especially at the 
time of deaths when they serve family 
dinners for the people concerned. They 
help support an orphange at Lincoln and a 
home lor the elderly at Mattoon In ad 
dition. they Uike part in many community 
projects Alter the State Bank built its new 
building, the Odd Fellows and the 
Kebekahs bought the old building They 
use the upstairs rooms for Lodge meetings 
and the downstairs for a kitchen and 
dining room where they serve suppers, 
such as the annual ham and bean supper. 
It IS also used for programs open to non 
members and a place to serve refresh- 
ments. Occasionally, they rent that room 
to other groups. 

These two lodges have always been 
active at Homecoming. They have placed 
first and second several times with their 
floats in the parade and the ladies usually 
serve meals at the park on Homecoming 
day. 

Installation of the new officers of 
Mignonette Rebekah Lodge 2:if. for 197;i 
took place January Hith, 197:i with Miss 
Louise Brummett. Urbana. District 
president in charge. They were Mattie 
Lee Smith. NG.; Hilda Franklin, V.G.; 
Bette Grant, recording secretary; Betty 
Williams, financial secretary; Fern 
Fisher, treasurer; Esther Weakley, 
musician; Helen Vaughn, Warden; Ruth 
Conat.ser. Conductor, and other officers 
and committees. Kra Swartz is the retiring 
Noble Grand. 

- G9- 



The Masons 

A charter for the DeLand Lodge 812 AF 
& AM was issued by the Grand Lodge of 
the suite of Illinois on October 5, 1892. The 
chartered Lodge of Ancient Free and 
accepted Masons has the authority to 
confer the several degrees of fc^ntered 
Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master 
Mason degrees, which are the first three 
steps in Masonry. At the time of the 
singing of the charter the following of- 
ficers were installed: Worshipful Master, 
Edward J. Hanma; Senior Warden, 
Timothy G Deveney; Junior Warden, 
Rueben B. Moody; Treasurer, J,H. 
Rinehart; Secretary, J. A. Davis; Senior 
Deacon. J II Wood. Junior Deacon, Cyrus 
Paul; Chaplain. John Vail; Senior 
Steward. Bowman Fuller; Junior Steward, 
LC Campbell; Tyler. J \V McConkey. 

The 1972 membership consists of sixty 
Master Masons. Of the present member- 
ship, there are twenty six who also belong 
to the Bloomington Consistory and are 
:l2nd degree Masons and sixteen that 
belong to the Ansar Shrine, Springfield, 111. 
These are the higher steps in the Lodge. 

The Masons first met in the Odd Fellow 
Mall above the corner hardware in one of 
the new tile buildings From there they 
moved to the room above the store built by 
Dr. Davis. This was the southern of the 
three tile buildings. In 19:il. they bought 
the First National Bank building mow the 
postollicei and still have their Lodge 
rooms in the upper floor of that building. 
They were lucky In 19:):! the three tile 
buildings burned and the fire started in the 
lower part below their former Lodge Hall. 
The Odd Fellows and Kebekahs lost their 
records but the Masonic papers were safe. 

The Lodge at the present time has four 
lilty year members William Trigg, 
Faurest Borton, P E Fonner. and Lorin 
Borton They also have the honor of having 
trom their membership John C. Doyle who 
IS the Right Worshipful District Deputy 
(irand Master of Ancient Free and Ac- 
cepted .Masons of the State of Illinois. 

They have a list of past presidents 
containing 47 different names. Some of 
them have served more than one term. 
,1 II Wood served eight years R.B. Moody 
and P.E Fonner each .served six. 

The paper of October, 189,t mentions 
them moving above the Davis store and in 
March 1902. it mentions the Masonic and K 
of P Lodges purchasing a new carpet and 
new officer and member chairs from Cobb 
and Trigg 

•DeLand can boast of two of the hand- 
somest club rooms in the county." 

The officers for 1973 are as follows: 
Worshiplul Master. John W. Gantz; Senior 
Warden Wm H. GanU-.; Junior Warden, 
Ronald Hall; Treasurer, Neil Madden; 
Secretary. Robert Moberly, Jr.; Senior 
Deacon. George Edwards; Junior Deacon, 
Vernelle Leischner, Jr.; Senior Steward, 
Gav Maden; Junior Steward, Bruce 
Me'ver; Chaplain, Don Persons; Marshall 



Karl Borton; and Tyler, Ellis Leischner. 
Deceased 50 year members: J. Bruce 
Rinehart. R.J. Murphy and Dr. G.S. 
Walker. 

Senior Woman's Club 

The Senior DeLand Woman's Club of 
today is the oldest continuous club in 
DeLand. It was the first woman's club to 
be organized and is now over seventy 
years old, but is still active in the com- 
munity though they are few in number. 

The Woman's club Movement in 
America was getting rolling when in 
October of 1900, a little group of eight 
women met at the home of Mrs. Donna 
Reid and organized. 

Mrs. Reid, in the history she wrote for 
their 50th anniversary says: "It was the 
men who really started the ball rolling 
which resulted in the organization of the 
club. Whether they decided their wives 
could improve their cooking or were 
deteriorating intellectually is not known. 
But very adroitly they began to ask how 
come DeLand women were letting women 
in other towns get ahead of them. '(Mon- 
ticello, Decatur and Champaign had all 
organized clubs). So the women met. They 
were: Mrs. Lucy Thornton; Mrs. 
Margaret Hurst; Mrs. Atha Cox; Mrs. 
Mctta Carrier; Mrs. Esta England; Mrs. 
Estella Verner; Mrs. Hattie Swartz; and 
Mrs. Keid. The charter was held open for 
two weeks and at the next meeting were 
added the names of Miss Mary Bondurant; 
Mrs Ada Heed, and Mrs. Alzina Dillon. 
By January, lilOO, the limit of twenty-five 
members was filled. Constitution and by- 
laws were drafted with the help of some of 
the husbands. The club was called "THE 
DELAND IMPROVEMENT CLUB." 

In the early days, the programs con- 
sisted of recipe demonstrations, and 
matters connected with the home. They 
often had out-of-town speakers. One that 
they particularly enjoyed was Mrs. 
Eugenia Bacon of Decatur. Another was 
Miss Fannie Brooks who came each winter 
and held cooking demonstrations. At that 
time. Miss Bondurant practically moved 
her kitchen to the Christian Church where 
the demonstrations were held. 

For several years they used the Bay 
View reading course as a study and 
travelled all over the world by the way of 
books. 

About 1910, the club became affiliated 
with district, state, and- federal 
Federations and dropped the word "im- 
provement" from their title. Now, 
everyone refers to them as the Senior Club 
to distinguish them from the "Evening 
Woman's Club" which was started in 19:56 
under the sponsorship of the DeLand 
Woman's Club. 

After federation, the programs bran- 
ched out to include projects both at home 
and in the federation. All women's clubs 
are organized with many deparrments that 
cover about every subject possible on 
home, education, the fine arts, civic and 



foreign questions. Scholarships are given 
in the field of fine arts, Indian education, 
conservation and other areas. 

The DeLand Woman's Club has spon- 
sored many local projects. The Carnegie 
Library is the direct result of their 
diligence, as is the chapel at the cemetery 
intended as a memorial to the soldiers of 
World War I. It took eight years to collect 
the money for the chapel by giving home 
talent plays and receiving donations. 

One of the most successful projects of 
the Woman's Club was the annual clean up 
campaign which began about 1915 and 
continued for many years. When the 
Garden club was organized a few years 
later, the clean up project was turned over 
to them. It has been dropped now and then 
but has again been revived at times by the 
two woman's clubs. 

Many smaller, though no less important 
projects have been sponsored by this club. 
Examination of school children and pre- 
school children, health programs, vac- 
cinations, furniture to the school including 
the setting up of a library, the raising of a 
flag pole at the school, a grandfather clock 
and a bust of Lincoln for the Library, 
fixing up the clubroom in the library, the 
planting of trees, the giving of music 
scholarships, cooperation with other 
organizations, especially the Evening 
Woman's club in such projects as the 
buying of playground equipment for the 
park and the llnicef drive. One project 
sponsored about 1911, was individual 
drinking cups for the school children. The 
school used a well at the time and all the 
children drank from the tincups that were 
stacked at the well. The woman's club 
became concerned over this unsanitary 
condition and bought an aluminum 
drinking cup for each child. A number was 
put on each cup and the children were told 
to drink from their own cups and not share 
it. Much was said about germs. The 
writer's mother stopped at the Dresback 
home one day, and being a very hot day, 
she asked Gladys, the eight year old to 
bring her a glass of water. When the glass 
was handed back to her, there was a little 
water left and the child drank it. Richard, 
the first grader, was standing by, and as 
Gladys raised it to her lips, he protested. 
"(Jh, Gladys," said he. "Don't drink that. 
It might have gems in it." 

The woman's clubs latest project is 
street signs for the streets of DeLand. The 
signs were delivered and in June of 1972, 
they were installed. 

In its early years, the social life of the 
village was somewhat restricted. The 
DeLand Woman's club had three social 
affairs each year to which the husbands 
were invited. For many years, also, the 
Senior and Evening clubs had a joint 
meeting with especially interesting 
programs and sometimes they had guests 
at these 

One of the highlights in the club's history 
was the entertaining of the District club in 

— 70- 



1921 and another was the forming of the 
Piatt County club which took place in 
December of 1924. The district president 
asked Mrs. G.S. Walker to see what she 
could do about organizing the county. Mrs. 
Walker gave a four course luncheon at her _ 
home to 24 people. They came from the I 
various clubs in the county and en- ' 
thusiastically organized the county club 
that day. Mrs. Walker acted as president 
until the first election of the club the next 
year. 

The DeLand woman's club is now nearly 
7:i years old and is still going. It has ac- 
complished much in its lifetime and its 
influence will be felt for many years to 
come. It has indeed been an "im- 
provement" club. 

The 1972 and 73 officers of the Senior 
Club are: Mrs. G.R. Madden, president; 
Mrs. C.C. Trigg, vice president; Mrs. Lois 
Cox, Secretary, Mrs. Hermann Meyer, 
Treasurer; Pianist, Lola Trigg; J 
Parliamentarian — Lois Cox. 1 

The Evening Woman's Club 

The Evening Woman's Club had its 
beginnings as the DeLand Junior Woman's 
club during a meeting in November 1935 
when some of the young women of the 
community were invited by Mrs. Alice 
Wood, a Woman's club member, to meet at 
her home to consider the formation of a 
Junior club Eleven were present and 
plans were made to hold the first meeting 
on December (ith at Marjorie Leischners. 
At that meeting, fourteen signed as 
charter members. They were: Marjorie 
Leischner, Viola Bartison, Louise Bar- 
tison, Marjorie Roos, Irlene Ammann, 
Nola Headlee, Algene Thomas, Margaret 
Doyle, Louise Anderson, Wilma Halcomb, 
Betty Turnipseed, Era Swartz, Helen 
Crosby, and Margaret Doyle. Four of these 
are still members but only two have 
remained members continuously. They 
are Irlene Ammann Honselman, and Era 
Swartz. Marjorie Roos Husisinga and 
Helen Crosby Foltz were out for awhile but 
have been reinstated. Later in the year, 
Mildred Arrowsmith, Ora Fathour, Mabel 
Jones. Helen Johnson, Thelma Miller, 
Zelda Marvel, Bernice Reed, Katherine 
Wolfe, Mary and Phyllis Bragg, and 
Elizabeth Beasley joined Katherine Wolfe 
Leischner is also still a member. 

At the first meeting, the club became 
members of the County and District 
Organizations. At first they met twice a 
month in the members homes. As the club 
grew they met at the Library clubroom. A 
lew years ago, they changed to one 
monthly meeting. Two members of the 
woman's club were chosen to serve as 
sponsors The first year Mrs. Wood and 
Mrs. Harry Bickel served. After the club 
hiid been organized several years, the 
sponsors were dropped. 

Mrs Algene Thomas became the first 
president. Presidents since that time in- 
clude Mary Bragg iHuisinga); Mrs. Lee 
(Irubb; Mildred Arrowsmith; Lucille 



Vaughn. Anora Smith. Alma Dalton, Ruth 
Behrens. Era Swartz. Lola Reed. Gertrude 
('lap^>er. Grace Paugh, Betty Schroeder. 
Kay Leischner, Helen Halcomb. Helen 
Foltz. Kathleen P'oster. Sally Ann Madden. 
Thelma Moberly, Sue Timmons. Judy 
Huislnga is the current president. The club 
has more than thirty members and is 
composed mostly of young mothers and 
people who work during the day. 

As a Junior club, there was supposed to 
be an age limit and when one reached that 
age they were to go into the Senior club 
But because of the makeup of the club 
I young mother's and working women) the 
status of the club was changed and given 
the name of •Evening Woman's Club." 

The Evening Woman's club follow the 
same plan of programs as the Senior 
Women and are affiliated with County, 
State and General Federation. 

The club has always tried to support 
some community project. For several 
years they raised money to send the Girl 
Scouts to camp. They cooperated with the 
Senior club in establishing a '\outh Center 
iwhich didn't turn out very well) and with 
the cooperation of other organizations. 
h;i\e added playground c()uipment to the 
[virk. sponsored an annual Unicef party, 
collected for the March of Dimes and the 
Red Cross, took part in clean-up cam 
[liiigns. sponsored an Art Show on 
Homecoming day for several years, 
planted some trees, sent students to Art. 
Music and Conservation camps, helped 
sponsor one afternoon program at 
Homecoming, and took a large part in the 
program that celebrated the Mlinois 
Sesquicentennial. At present they are 
workmg enthusiastically on plans for 
celebrating the village's looth birthday, 
hike the Woman's club, they are interested 
m mukmg DeLand a better place to live. 

They have fun meetings also a picnic 
in the fall, a Christmas party, the Finale in 
the spring at w hich time the club members 
go out of town for a dinner and a show. 

Household Science Club 

For many years DeLand had a 
Household Science Club which was 
organized in March of I'Jl.i at the home of 
Mrs. Clifford Porter, with the assistance of 
.Mrs. Fletcher Beck of Bement. It began 
with lourteen charter members. Officers 
were President — Susie Leischner; Vice- 
president— Emma Porter; Secretary and 
Treasurer — Marie Gantz, Committee on 
Constitution and By-laws — Mrs. Porter 
and Lottie Reed; program committee — 
Mrs. Leischner. Mrs. Gantz and Mrs. 
Addie Carter .Meetings were to be held the 
lirstand third Fridays of each month. This 
was later changed to one a month Their 
purpose according to their year books, 
was "to create an intellectual stimulus in 
all that pertiiins to homemaking. and 
housekeeping" 

The lirst meeting was held on March 7. 
at the home o( Annabelle Dresback. The 
program consisted of a report of the 



committees; music by Mrs. Gantz; roll 
call - My F"avorite Sandwich filling; and a 
demonstration of sandwiches and cocoa by 
the hostess. A Social hour followed. 

Like the other women's organizations, 
the Household Science club was interested 
in the community and participated in most 
of the joint projects such as the Clean-up 
Campaigns, the Youth Center, the 
playground equipment in the park. They 
held regular guest days and the special 
meetings like the Christmas meeting. But 
the high point of the year was the annual 
May breakfast. The committee in charge 
selected a theme and carried it out in the 
decorations, food, the program and the 
toasts which were nearly always given to 
the other members and often in rhyme. 
This club was discontinued in 1966 after .51 
years. Three of the charter members were 
at the last meeting. They were: Mrs. LW. 
(;antz. Mrs. ME. Swartz. and Mrs. Alva 
Reed. The May breakfast was held that 
year at the home of Mrs. Cecil demons 
with Mrs. Marie Gantz as assistant 
hastess. Mrs. G.R. Madden was toast- 
mistress with Mrs. Arthur Moberly and 
Mrs. R. J. Murphy responding with toasts 
to 'Pioneer Days ". This theme was 
carried out with a red checkered 
tablecloth, spoons in a spoon holder, baked 
chicken dinner served family style and 
other homemade old fashioned goodies. 
It was both gay and sad gay because of 
its character, and .sad at the drop in active 
membership from thirty to eleven that 
caused it to be discontinued. 



The Priscillas 

The Priscilla club which is still going 
today was organized in the decade bet- 
ween 1'.I1U and l!)20. The exact year is 
unknown. It was started by four women 
living in the block south of the railroad - 
Joyce Porter. Donna Reid. Alzina Dillon, 
and Ada Reed. Once a month they got 
together in one of the homes and spent the 
afternoon doing handwork and visiting. 
Other women became interested and at 
one time the club had twenty-five mem 
bers which was put as a limit since the club 
met in the homes and more could not be 
accommodated 

The Priscillas have been purely a social 
club Each member was expected to bring 
handwork land were fined if they didn't i 
and for a short time they tried programs 
but these did not go over very well. Now 
they just visit. Mrs Sarah Carrier. 
DeLand's blind poet, wrote the following 
lines to the club sometime before I'Jli) 
when her book of poems was published: 

l(» IIIKPKISCII.I.AC IKCLK 

.My friends of the Circle, we have met here 

today 
To spend a few moments together, and 

pass time away 

— 71 — 



In telling short stories that may come to 
mind. 

Or in reading or talking, as each is in- 
clined. 

Some bring here their fancy work, mostly 

to show- 
That work comes before pleasure, 

wherever we go; 
While others, more practical, bring a 

garment to make; 

Still other have nothing so handy as a tea- 
towel to take. 

Now all these things are useful and will 
come into play. 

In well managed households, they are used 
every day. 

But this social circle has another object in 

view. 
Tis to bind hearts together, and old friend- 
ships renew; 
And to welcome the stranger who comes to 

our town, for which our good people 

have gained social renown. 
Which is better by far than the Angelfood 

cake. 
Or the ice cream and coffee, that our 

hostess may make. 
For it leaves in our heart a sweet sense of 

repose 
That lollows kindness to others as 

everyone knows. 

Then let love be our password, and 
kindness our aim; 

Let us ever be helpful to the poor, blind. 

and lame. 
And we in our turn will receive a kindly 

reward. 
It we lollow the pattern marked out by our 

Lord 



The Liberty Hour Club 

On a Tuesday afternoon in 19:!2. Mrs. 
C R Roos invited a number of neighbor 
ladies to her home for tea and cookies with 
the idea of forming a club. The women 
approved and they immediately made 
plans to meet once a month in one of the 
homes Today, these neighbors are still 
meeting along with their daughters and 
daughters in law and women who have 
moved into the neighborhood. Even some 
ol these who have moved away and must 
travel a considerable distance come back 
lor the monthly meetings. They are civic- 
minded people and donate to special funds 
that are raised for community betterment. 
For several years they have had a float for 
the Homecoming parade and have also 
had antujue and hobby shows on that day. 

The club numbers around tvienty They 
axasionally have special meetings when 
they invite the families. 

The lirst president was Pearl Roos, 
Secretary — Golda Jones. 

Thi- I!i72 president is Hattie Bartison; 
vice-president. Jean Huisinga; secretary- 
treasurer. M;irjorie Huisinga. Mrs. Roos 
was made an honorary president since this 



was the 40th anniversary. 

Flower — Lily-of-the-valley ; Colors — 
green and white. There motto is: 

It's just how you take it. 

It isn't the subject assigned you. 

But just what you make it. 

Social Clubs 

DeLand has had many social clubs in- 
cluding rook clubs. Canasta clubs and 
bridge clubs. These come and go, but there 
is one bridge club that has been in 
existence for many years. 

The group started playing together with 
ther husbands — playing 500. Interest in 
that waned after awhile but the women 
decided to continue playing Bridge. They 
meet every two weeks in the homes. At 
first they always had three tables but often 
play with two tables. The group changes 
from time to time, but there are a few who 
have been in the club from its beginning. 
These include Ersa Murphy, Lola Bickel. 
Mollie Fonner, Grace Borton. 

There have also been several Four-H 
clubs in DeLand. The 4-H club movement 
started at the turn of the century hut was 
not olficially given the name 4-H until 
about i"Ji:! or 14, and was not sponsored by 
the Farm Bureau and Home E.xtension 
organizations in Piatt county (as they are 
at the present time) until 1922. The work in 
this county was begun in the schools when 
Mr Mcintosh, the county supermtendent, 
oHered to give the seventh and eighth 
grade pupils credit on their final 
exammation in Agriculture and Household 
Arts 11 they carried out a project. For 
several years the children made gardens, 
raised poultry, hogs and calves and made 
garments for this credit with the teacher 
or a mother in charge. The banks also 
sponsored a calf club, helping the 
youngsters to get their calves by loaning 
them the money When the clubs were 
tiiken over by the Home Extension they 
were put under the leadership of someone 
in each community and finally any child, 
not just the farm children were eligible. 

The county records of the Agricultural 
Extension service show that DeLand had a 
4-H Home Economics club organized in 
April of 1922. It was called the DeLand 
Garment Making Club and was led by 
Bertha Helfenstein. a teacher in the local 
school There were 18 boys and 18 girls in 
this club. 

In 192.i. the Merry Mates Clothing club 
with 14 members was led by Eva and Pearl 
Barnes. Later on, the Happy Stitchers club 
was organized. In 1947 the DeLand Happy 
Hour club with 27 members taking various 
projects was led by Mrs. Ervin Huisinga, 
Mrs. Cecil demons, Mrs. Harold Floyd, 
Mrs. Howard Gantz, and Mrs. C.E. 
Sprague. 

In 1959, the DeLand Busy Fingers 4-H 
Club was organized and is still thriving. In 
1972 it was led by Mrs J.E. Reed and Mrs. 
Dean Grant and had the following mem- 
bers: Terri and Tom Apperson. Marilyn 
Carter, Tim Clifton, Sharon Crichton, Tina 



Foster, Dee Ann Grant Gayle Gregory, 
Pete Haynes. Susan Hermann, Jacqueliyn 
Huisinga, Carol and James Reed The 13 
members carried a total of 38 projects 
including cooking, sewing, arts and crafts, 
woodworking, conservation, baby sitting 
and photography. Many of them attended 
the camp at Allerton Park for a week and 
even told about their club and its activities 
on radio station WVLJ. Carol Reed at- 
tended a 4-H Citizen conference in 
Washington DC. The members exhibited 
their completed projects at a local 
achievement meeting and the county show- 
in Cerro Gordo where some were selected 
to go to the State Fair. The local club is 
sponsored bv the DeLand Home Extension 
Club. 

Another local 4-H Club — the Blue 
Ribbon Club — is now inactive. It was 
active under the leadership of Ervin 
Huisinga but was temporarily disbanded. 
Robert Wisegarver reorganized it in 1958. 
In 1959 Don Persons, assisted by Gerald 
Myerscough became the leader and 
worked with it until 1969. It became 
inactive in 1969 but it is possible for all 
projects now to be taken under the leader- 
ship of the Busy Fingers Club or to be 
taken in the County club. During the time 
the Blue Ribbon club was active, they lived 
up to its name by earning Blue Ribbons, 
Trophies and Leadership awards. They 
had several members who were active in 
the Countv Federation of 4-H Clubs. 



Stouts 

There have been several troops of Boy 
Scouts organized in DeLand. There was a 
boy scout troop in the thirties led by Rev 
Longenbaugh and there may have been 
one before that This was followed by a 
troop led by George Edwards which was 
sponsored by the men of the Methodist 
Church It was still active in 1968 but has 
since disbanded. 

The Evening Woman's Club sponsored a 
Girl Scout Troop during the thirties and 
early forties. This was active until after 
the consolidation of the schools but 
gradually became inactive. 

The club paid part of the expenses each 
year of those who wanted to go to camp. A 
council of local women directed the troop. 

For a short time, the Senior Woman's 
Club sponsored a brownie troop. 

Oel.and \\ eldo.i .Xnieritan 
Field Ser\ ice 

This club centered at the High School is a 
private, non-sectarian organization whose 
purpose is the promotion of understanding 
between people through international 
scholarship programs. It has two main 
programs: One — the winter program 
brings students from other countries for a 
year of study and experience in the United 
States. The second, called Americans 
Abroad send American students to other 



72 



countries, either for a summer abroad or 
for a school year. 

The DeLand-Weldon chapter was for- 
med in 1965 with 25 people from the two 
communities responsible for the raising of 
funds, for finding the host families and 
they encourage local students to apply for 
the Americans Abroad program. 

Our chapter has had three students: 
Antonio Cordera from Costa Rico whose 
host family was the Lonnie Smiths; 
P'ernando Laybauer of Brazil whose host 
family was the Don Hermanns and Marit 
Rasmussen. who lived with the Dick Loney 
family. 

Our first Americans Abroad student was 
Jan Hermann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
Don Hermann, who spent the summer of 
1972 with a family in the Philippines and 
attended school there. 

Each year the local AFS sponsored 
either an AFS weekend or a day, when 
AFS students and their American brothers 
and sisters from neighboring communities 
are invited to the school and community 
for different activities. They also invite 
University of Illinois students from dif- 
ferent countries for a meal and programs. 
For a short time in the twenties or 
thirties, there were two other woman's 
clubs. One was a music club who met for 
the purpose of learning about musicians 
and good music It was about the time that 
Victrolas became popular and part of their 
programs was listening to some of the fine 
music that the Victrola and Edison 
companies recorded. Some of the ladies 
had regular concerts on the victrola, in- 
viting in their friends and neighbors. 

The Garden Club was very active for 
awhile Each year they held a Flower 
Show which was attended by people from 
other areas. They gave awards for various 
categories in flower raising and flower 
arranging Many people around DeLand 
spent a great amount of time planting and 
raising flowers. The Garden Club took 
care of the Clean-up campaign for several 
years. Peonies were a specialty with 
several of the women — Mrs. George 
Hursh. Mrs. Keller and the Trenchards. 
All had lovely peony gardens. 

The men had organizations, too. A 
business men's association was formed in 
1910 it's purpose to sponsor things that 
would better IDeLand. For a number of 
sears they sponsored weekly open air 
picture shows, band concerts, Chatauquas, 
and community picnics. They were joined 
in their efforts by a booster club in the 
19teens The Chatauquas needed much 
advertising and sometimes carloads of 
men and the band went from town to town 
advertising the coming events. The 
community picnics lasted for several 
years sometimes there was only one 
day Other times there were as many as 
three days Prizes were given for fancy 
work displays, cooking displays and for 
the best cattle and other stock that were 
displayed on Main street. The chairs from 
the Wigwam were moved downtown and 
put at the edge of the sidewalk. The band 



gave two concerts each day and often a 
carnival was in town lor the event com- 
plete with nierryt^o-round and I'erris 
wheel. The counterpart of the booster club 
today is DeLand Entertainments, in- 
corporated, who have for 15 or 16 years 
sponsored a homecoming complete with 
parade, horse show and other entertain- 
ment. They are planning the celebration 
this year of our UKlth anniversary. 

In the l'.i:i()s there was a l>ions Club in 
Del-and. They were first organized in l!»:n 
at a meeting with IH present. All 16 
members present that night became 
charter members and others joined the 
next day. The officers were: Harry Bickel. 
president; William Trigg, vice president 
and treasurer. Lynn Williams, lion tamer; 
W.O. Jones. Rev. Willey. C.P. Bowsher. 
W.B. Trenchard and E.T. McMillen. 
directors; Carter Wisegarver, tail twister. 
Other charter members were C.P. 
Bowsher. I.K. Cathcart, J.C. Doyle, C.C 
Trigg. JR. Dresback and Lester Oakley. 

The charter meeting was held with a 
program of music, a speech by Franklin 
Quoyle. the presentation of the charter by 
Mark Whitmeyer. a district governor 
which was accepted by President Bickel. 
The Methodist Guild served a banquet. 

A Boy Scout Troop was organized at a 
meeting at Rev Johnsons The lions held a 
charter night lor the Scouts with a banquet 
and became the troop's sponsors. They 
also entertained the basketball squad each 
year. 

They did not last many years, becoming 
inactive in l!i:i4 but they reorganized in 
1!)40 with IR Cathcart as president. We 
have no further information concerning 
them. 



AlVIUSKAI. TOWN 

DeLand has always been a musical 
town. This is shown by the bands and 
choral societies that have dominated its 
history. The early churches all had choirs 
and used them constantly for en- 
tertainments as well as church services. 
Musical entertainment was of ten brought 
in from the outside such as the Coly 
Brothers of Clinton who gave an enjoyable 
entertainment at the school in 1876. And 
music has been a feature of most of the 
organizations meetings. The music club 
has been mentioned. Its purpase was to 
further the use of music in the community. 

There may have been musical in- 
struments in DeLand before 1877, but they 
must not have been common, as the 
purchase of an organ by R B. Moody was 
deemed important enough to report in the 
county paper. Subsequently several 
others were reported as having bought 
organs and it was reported that one lady 
had bought some sheet music! As time 
went on, other instruments appeared. The 
piano took the place of organs. The Edison 
phonograph was invented and was all the 
lage And then came the \'ictrola and the 
record concerts to which the guests were 




Band about the turn of the century. 



expected to listen and not visit until the 
concert was over. 

Professor Cushman organized a singing 
school in 1877, and there were others who 
conducted such schools from time to time. 
D. B. Troxel became noted for the con- 
certs, musical plays and cantatas which 
he put on when fifty or sixty took part. He 
encouraged anyone who had any musical 
talent to take part and everyone enjoyed 
singing in his choruses. 

And then there was the band' Bands 
came and went through the 1880's and 90's 
and into the twentieth century. Until the 
township High School was formed and an 
excellent school band, built up by Harry 
Merry took their place. The first mention 
of a band was in 1882 when a cornet band 
was organized. Sometimes it was spoken 
of as "Del^and's Brass Band," 

■The DeLand Cornet Band assisted by 
Miss May Murphy as soloist, and pianist 
and the best of DeLand's local talent gave 
a benefit concert." (Miss Murphy was 
from Monticello. ) 

"188:i - Our brass band "bowed" at 
Farmer City for the 4th " 

"Some new members have been added 
to the band. Now we shall hear the 
\ariations in time and tune incidental to 
.such a change. But the boys must have a 
chance for impovement." 

In that same year, the band boys had a 
weight supper at Kirker and Porter's new 
cle\ ator The receipts of over $70 was used 

— 73 — 



to emply a competent instructor. In 1885, 
the band underwent reorganization. 
Several were going out of it and several 
coming in which checked its progress for 
awhile. The band played at all important 
local social occasions and at neighboring 
towns for special events. They gave 
strawberry festivals and other affairs to 
make money for new instruments from 
time to time On July 7. 1900 they gave an 
open air concert in their new suits and 
their new band wagon. They became a 
inaj'ching band and took part in a 
Republican parade at Monticello. Arthur 
Verner. the high school principal 
engineered this. 

In l'J02. the business men sponsored open 
air concerts during the summer. We have 
a picture of this band under the leadership 
of Thomas McMillen. The members and 
their instruments were: McMillen. cor- 
net; MF McMillen. baritone; D.Barnes, 
clarinet; C.L Gilmore. cornet; C.Har- 
shbarger. tuba; T.M.McConkey and 
E Summers, slide trombones; Cooper 
Bowsher and Ed Leischner, altos; 
J W.Gessford. slide trombone. 

"May Hi, 1!K)2 if any musical tune, 

turn tum tum sound reaches your ears. 
.lust consider that it's Will Haggard in the 
tmshop practicing as new bass drummer 
ol our band " 

In October the Farmer City Journal, 
alter the band played for an old soldiers 
reunion there, reported: 

"The DeLand band is a very clever 




Larger band started about 1916 



I 



organization and its playing was highly 
complimented. With a little strengthenmg 
in the cornet section, the boys could hold 
their own with the best country bands. 

p^or a little while after this band gave up 
the struggle DeLand did not have a band, 
but about 1914 or 15, a band of over :iO 
pieces was organized. W.E. Leischner was 
president of the organization, R. J 
Murphy, Secretary and treasurer; E.T. 
McMillen, manager and Harry Merry, 
leader. This band grew in number until 
there was around S.^ members and it 
played for all local events and many in the 
surrounding community for a number of 
years The comment of the editor on the 
iiist practice of the band was not com 
plimentary, it read thus: 

■Most of the members were able to 
make some kind of noise and at the lirst 
practice, they made some noise. It really 
sounded like music until the clarinet 
section broke loose with some Iti clarinets 
crackling, sputtering and squeaking. 
However, the instructor, who had given 15 
lessons during the day, and others said 
that it was fine for the first time. Maybe it 
was'" 

But all the boys (and some girls) in the 
bands learned to play well and for several 
years we had summer band conerts on 
Thursday nights. Miss Nellye Motherspaw 
who had a beautiful soprano voice was 
their soloist and the band gained con- 
siderable fame. World War I put a crimp 
in their playing as many of its members 
left for the army. But there were enough 
of them left to send the boys off with the 
band playing. By 1925, the band had 
nearly disbanded because of lack of in- 
terest, but was revived enough to have 
concerts that summer. 

At the community picnic that year, the 
Legion who had put on the picnic, gave the 
band a banquet in honor of their ten years 
of service. After that, the High School 
band was depended on for music for 
special occasions. 




Band concert. 




'^^j^/^^if^-^'^0^r: 



Band practicing marching. 



l,rni,K(.K|{.MA\ BAM) 

This little band has been quite popular m 
this area since its first organization in 
I9:i:i. It was organized at the DeLand 

— 74 — 



Township High school and over the years 
have entertained many people here and in 
neighboring communities. The German 
Band, or the •Hungry Five" as they were 
sometimes called i in keeping with their 
music from a book by that name), 
originally consisted of Vernelle Leischner. 



trombone; Keith Garver, trumpet; John 
Doyle, bass; Edwin Reed, bass and Gene 
VVIsegarver. bass. Their uniforms were 
the cast off garments of the old DeLand 
band of the 1915 to24's. 




Original Little (irrnian Band. 



Since most of the group graduated in 
li):{4. an entirely new band was organized 
the following year. The members weie 
KIsie Crosby, baritone; Dorothy Tur- 
nipseed. trumpet; Paul Parrish. bass; 
Eleanor Skeels and Dorothy McBride, 
clarinets. For two years this group played 
at school activities, amateur shows and 
fairs. Their first public appearance was at 
a county teachers meeting at Monticello 
A high light of the occasion was when Mr 
Mcintosh unexpectedly walked into their 
room belore the girls were quite dressed. 

They were still wearing the uniforms of 
the town band but sometimes they glued on 
mustaches to look the part The 

newspaper of hi:!r) described them thus 

"The clothes of these musicians are not 
very picturesque. Some of the uniforms 
are short, some large, some tight, so when 
you see these people with their Mustaches, 
side burns and queer looking clothes, 
please dont get frightened and run These 
germans play well known pieces such as 
•Pop Goes the Weasel ", 'The Old Gray 
Mare" and "Uld MacDonald". They also 
play some tunes from their native land 
such as "hi-le.hi-lo". 

During the l9:i(i-:57 school year, members 
were Elsie Crosby; Carmen Fonner; Paul 
Parrish; Barbara Borton and Eleanor 
Skeels They played at least thirty 
engagements that year 




I'icseiit l.itlle (iernian Band. 

Popular as they were, there was no more 
high school German band after 1937. But 
many years later lin the 1950's) some of 



the former members revived the band 
which has been playing ever since for ac- 
tivities such as Summer band concerts. 
Homecoming activities. Mason activities, 
the Farmer City and Weldon Centennials. 
We expect to hear them at the DeLand 
Centennial in the fall. Members now in 
elude Elsie Crosby Trigg, baritone; John 
Dovle. bass; Neil Madden, trumpet; 
Gerald Marietta (former Del^and Weldon 
band director!, trombone; Edwin Keed 
and Dorothv McBride Hermann, clarinets. 



KKNTl'CKI'I.OWBOYS 

Another popular group that played many 
places in this area and even broadcast 
from the radio station at Clinton were 
farmers from the Kentuck neighborhood. 
They were a singing group The members 
were Clark Olson. Claude Jones. Willard 
Smith. Sheldon Jones. Harm Meyer. 
Seymour Knisely They were ac- 

companied by Carl Kingston and later by 
Mrs Seymour Knisely The group sang 
together for several years in the late 
forties and early fifties. All but Mr and 
Mrs. Knisely are now deceased. 

There is another local group who have 
been playing together for some time and 
who play each year at Homecoming They 
play country music and are called The 
Hickory Hili l?oys Members are: .John 
(Jantz. Konald Hall. Bill (iolden. Bob 
Valentine. Jim Smith, Spencer Sorrenson. 

other entertainment has been the 
Lecture courses held in the early part of 
the century and sponsored by the Woman's 
Club Usually there were four of these 
each winter and they consisted of lectures, 
dramas, and musical numbers And In the 
summers, there was a Chatauqua held 
here for several summers beginning about 
1914. The Chatauqua lasted for a week 
with programs in both the afternoon and 
evening They, too, were composed of a 
variety of numbers. Since, in those days, 
we didn't have entertainment like TV and 
radio in the home, they filled the need of 
entertainment for the people. 

And last but not least was PERCY'S. 
They were a traveling group that came 
each summer for a week giving a new play 
each evening And they were very good. 
Everyone looked forward to their coming. 
The owner of the show was a man named 
Leighty from Farmer City His wife and 
a small daughter traveled with him along 
with others. 

A troupe who played "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin " was a frequent visitor and 
sometimes we had a dog and pony show or 
even a one ring circus 

And later on we had movies on the street 
sponsored by the merchants Several 
attempts were made to establish a moving 
picture show here but lor some reason, 
they never seemed to succeed. 

But we were entertained. These events 

— 75 — 



along with church socials kept us almost 
as busy as the schools do today with their 
concerts, plays and basketball games. 



CIVIL WAR 

Three of the village's organizations were 
and are connected with the wars. They are 
the Gar. American l^-gion and the Legion 
.Auxiliary. While the Civil War was before 
there was a DeLand, there were many 
Civil War veterans in the township and 
later in DeLand there was one Revolution 
soldier Captain buried in Piatt 

cemetery; one War of 1812 soldier 
Marquiss, and one Spanish American 
soldier Charles Simmons. Of the Civil 
War veterans, a few went from here in 
Piatt county, but the majority moved here 
after the war was over. The paper gave a 
list ol Civil War veterans still alive in 
Goose Creek township in IKKO which 
numbered :i9. Several of these had been 
wounded and had received payment for 
their wounds in 1KK:(. 

In IKK:i, the old veterans met and 
organized a local GAR Post, called the R. 
H .Moody Camp No. IWI. The Sons of 
Veti'ians must have been organized about 
the same tmie as they were all mustered in 
at the .same time by CapUiin J C Porter of 
Clinton Ot the olficers elected. Wiley 
Dewees was chosen as Captain. 

In IK'.il). Mr. Moody and H. (L Porter 
attended the GAR encampment. At a 
county encampment. Captain Charles 
Manslield held the annual inspection and 
the Sons gave a War Drama "The Dutch 
Recruit " 

In IH9.i there was the lirst mention of 
Decoration Day services In 189S. the old 
soldiers and the Sons ot Vetcreans held a 
Cam|> Fire at the Wigwam on New Year's 
Day and had a pleasant meeting during the 
Day It was well attended 

Every Decoration Day the old soldiers 
marched to the cemetery and took part in 
th'e services and the decoration of their 
comrades graves. Year by year their 
number grew fewer, and they made the 
march in an automobile. Mr. John 
Morgan, who died in 1934, was the last to 
go 

THE SFAMSII AMERICAN WAR 

At the outbreak of the Spanish American 
War in I89H. DeLand. like most other 
places developed the War Fever. There 
was a Piatt County unit organized which 
included anyone who enlisted from 
DeLand 

The DeLand unit with Wm. Dewees as 
commander organized the young men and 
practiced drilling at the Wigwam with 
some Sons of Veterans muskets. They 
drilled primarily in picket and guard duty. 
But the only one who was ever called up 
was Charles Simmons He enlisted on 
January 2. 1898. and was sent to Manilla 
during the Phillipine insurrection. He 



engaged in a number of skirmishes and 
expeditions and was a member of the 22nd 
regiment of Infantry in Co. G. He was 
honorably discharged on Dec. 11, 1902. 

For some unknown reason, probably 
through some blunder of officials, the rest 
were never called and never received their 
discharge papers. They were sworn in for 
two years with the Bogardus Provisional 
Regiment Reserves subject to the National 
Government and Bogardus was to send 
each a card of Recognition but none was 
received. The night they were sworn in 
there was a big crowd at the Wigwam with 
a program of patriotic speeches and 
Songs. There were twenty-four men in this 
unit. 



WORLD WAR I 

World War I was a popular war, if any 
war can be said to be popular. There had 
been no wars in the lives of most of the 
population and everyone was anxious to 
get with it and hang the Kaiser. The 
soldiers were sent off in a blaze of glory. 
When they left they usually left on the 
morning train. The band was on hand and 
practically all of the citizens to wish them 
godspeed. Attempts were made to save 
food and gas and light and whatever 
needed saving. The women were 
registered for War work Meatless days 
and wheatless days were observed and 
gasless Sundays were a must. All this 
saving really contributed to the War 
drives. The postofficc became a recruiting 
station. Large Red Cross drives were 
carried on The women made bandages 
and knitted socks, and even the children 
scraped Imt from material to be used in 
bandages. Kach church had a service flag 
and homes that had sent off a son or 
brother or husband had service flags in 
their windows. Bonds were sold. Even the 
children saved their pennies and bought 
2.'ic savings stamps. Ail this was to make 
the "World Safe lor Democracy." 

Goose Creek township sent quite a 
number of men overseas. The first to go 
was Carleton Haggard, who also was the 
first DeLand soldier to be wounded. The 
first death was that of Peter Huisinga, the 
son of Mr and Mrs. Bert Huisinga. He 
died while he was in training at the 
University of Illinois. The first death 
overseas was Charles Larson. 

Soon after the return of DeLands 
soldiers in 1919, the American Legion Post 
was organized. They have been in 
existence ever since. The ranks of the 
veterans of World War 1 are thinning, but 
their places have been taken by veterans 
of World War 11, the Korean Conflict and 
the Viet Nam Conflict. 

The Wardead from World War II are 
listed as follows; Glen Ensign, Richard 
Dresback, Hugh Mansfield, Arnold Foster 
and Stanley New. George Taylor and 
Kimball Foster (Opal Taylor's brother) 
were killed in the Korean Conflict. 



The later wars have not had the en- 
thusiasm that World War I had. The World 
had not been made safe for Democracy, 
and between the new war and the 
depression of the 1930's, the people were 
weary. Never- the- less, there was a 
response of the people of DeLand to the 
Nation's need. The bond drives went on, 
people gave to the Red Cross and made 
bandages and knitted socks as in the other 
war. They sent packages to the soldiers at 
Christmas time. They made ditty bags to 
hold part of his possessions, but this time 
they gave blood. It meant a trip to Chicago 
but who minded that if a pint of blood 
saved a boy' The Christian Church sent a 
donor for each of the boys represented by a 
service star on their flag. 




'I'hc Lc-^ioii Hall 



AMKUICAN LEGION AUXILIARY 

On February 2S, 1949, Mrs. Hazel 
Cannon of District 19, met with a group of 
eligible women in DeLand to form an 
Auxiliary Unit. It is known as Lincoln 
Unit No 102 since the name was to be the 
same as its sponsoring American Legion 
Post. 

The first officers were: President, Mrs. 
Ernest Harper; 1st V.P., Mrs. Ellis 
Leischner, 2nd V.P.. Mrs. John Bickel; 
.Sec, Mrs. A.L. Blosser; Corresponding 
Sec, Miss Pearl Barnes; Treas., Mrs. 
Harold Riggs; Historian, Mrs. Vernelle 
Leischner; Chaplain, Mrs. Melvin 
Vaughn; Sergeant at arms, Mrs. Ham- 
mond Maria; Assistant Sergeant at arms, 
Mrs Herbert Made. 

The present officers are: President, 
Mrs. Terry Morrow; 1st Vice, Mrs. Carl 
Ray Norton; 2nd Vice, Mrs. Wm. Robbins; 
Sec-Treas. Mrs. Don Persons; Historian. 
Mrs. Beecher Pittman; Chaplain, Mrs. 
Wayne Webb; Sergeant at arms, Mrs. Lyle 
Becker. 

The objective of the Legion Auxiliary is 
two-fold First, to give assistance to the 
veteran and his family in time of need. 
Second, it is a service organization and 
emphasizes .service to the community. 
When open air shows and concerts were 
the order in DeLand, the Auxiliary took 
turns with the Rebekahs making popcorn 
available to the specUUors and also added 
to their treasury The blood bank of the 
county uses the Legion building in making 

— 76 — 



its annual blood call. Suppers are served 
to various groups, a food stand at the 
Homecoming has been a regular project 
and for sometime, they had regular dances 
at the Legion Hall. Each Memorial Day 
the Legion and its Auxiliary takes 
charge of and plan the services which 
includes decorating the graves of the 
Veterans of the Wars. They have 
cooperated in other community projects 
where several organizations worked 
together. 

The Legion and the Auxiliary regularly 
send a girl and a boy to Girls' and Boys' 
state. This is a step in teaching good 
citizenship. One year, Joyce Madden was 
elected Secretary of State in the Girl's 
State set up, and Claire Persons served 
two years as counsellor after she had 
attended in 1965. The Junior group 
sponsored by the Auxiliary mostly 

daughters of the Auxiliary have studied 
the community, visiting the various 
businesses and have studied foreign lands, 
dressing a doll each year to represent the 
country they were studying. 



POLITICS 

Politics has always been of importance 
in Goose Creek township. As early as 1875, 
the paper notes that the currency question 
was being discussed at length since an 
election in Ohio. 

On September 6, 1876, the Republicans of 
Goose Creek formed a club with Seth 
Langdon acting as chairman. F'our of 
those present were appointed to make a 
list of officers and candidates and while 
this committee was debating the matter, 
PA. Hamilton made a one and three 
quarter hour speech. Philip Lewis was 
elected president; Langdon, vice 
president; J.B. Haggard, Secretary; and 
Seymour Marquiss, treasurer. The 65 
members present set Saturday for having 
a pole raising with CD. Moore as speaker. 

1880 was election year, and politics, as it 
is now. were in the foreground. It was 
Garfield and Arthur against Hancock and 
his running mate. Each party had a huge, 
lively rally during the month of August. 
The Republicans had for their speaker, the 
Honorable J. G. Cannon ( Uncle Joe ) . There 
were 600 to 800 present. They had a 
quartette who sang stirring songs before 
the speaking. 

The Democrats at their rally raised a 
Hancock pole purported to be 140 feet high. 
Dr Wood was marshall of the day and 
•bore the honors bravely and blushingly." 
Speech making in Moody's grove was by 
WE. Lodge of Monticello, J.R Scott of 
Champaign, (greenback candidate for 
congress), and JO. Cunningham of 
Champaign who aspired to the State 
Senate. Mr Lodge shocked the audience 
by declaring that the Democratic party 
was not what it could have been and that 
the Republican party took their place in 
1869 because the democratic party was 
rotten and •bust"' The question of 



"resumption" came up and Lodge 
declared money lenders to be the drone of 
society'. The faces of the audience were a 
sight to behold at Lodge's attack upon his 
own party. He used up so much time that 
the other speeches had to be cut short. 
That rally was indeed lively. Garfield won 
the election. 

1884 was a repeat of 1880 only now there 
was a cornet band to furnish the music. It 
was Blaine uepublican) against Grover 
Cleveland, democrat. Again there were 
rallies, a journey to Monticello to a big 
rally there. There were parade wagons 
with patriotic decorations with little girls 
in white dresses riding upon them. The 
band accompanied each party. Cleveland 
won. The democrats painted the town red. 

1888 was again a repeat. All through 1888 
there was much political activity without a 
good place to hold rallies. They had 
speakers, torch light parades, rallies, with 
members of both parties engaging in the 
campaign in DeLand just as they were 
doing in the rest of the country. It was one 
of the "hottest" political fights in election 
history. Grover Cleveland had been 
president for four years and the 
Republicans were determined to replace 
him with Benjamin Harrison. They suc- 
ceeded. It was during this campaign that 
the wigwam was built. 



THE WIGWAM 

Wigwam seems to many to be a queer 
name for a political building, but there was 
a reason for it. Some people believe that its 
shape-round like an Indian teepee, gave it 
its name. But the truth is that the name is 
political. Back in 1860 when the 
Republican party held its convention in 
Chicago and nominated Abraham Lincoln 
for president, they met in a huge, circular 
wooden building built for the convention, 
known as "The Wigwam." From that time 
on. any round or Octagonal building used 
tor political purposes by the Republican 
Party was known as a wigwam. 

DeLand's wigwam was built in 1888 and 
until IVM was to DeLand what the Tran- 
sfer House was to Decatur — a unique 
structure the like of which was found 
nowhere else in this part of the country. It 
was built of wood-good stout oak and white 
pine and painted white. It had eight sides, 
was 64 feet in diameter and had a center 
pole w hich helped to hold up its dome-like 
root It had a small dome and a flag pole on 
the top which was, on special occasions 
painted red, white, and blue. 

A stage occupied the north provided with 
both outdoor and indoor scenery, wings at 
the sides and a storage place beneath the 
stage The room for dressing was crowded 
so the players often dressed away from the 
building One Monticello woman once told 
of being in a play here, dressing at the 
telephone office a block away, running 
down the alley, and crawling through a 
window off the stage to avoid being seen by 
the audience. The southern section had a 










.^^-^^^^'^^ 



JL 



GOOSE CREEK W'f}^ 

,...__ Sfiaic^of 








ICOUNTY, ILLINOIS. 



I4»C C«tOM«t Ol h 



f \; 



13 



iwtain (L'ontpiiny, [] 



of ih* valit^ of tj.UU tfuit. Trnrufrra^f only al thr Office of thrCompani/. in Oei^tnd, JlHimijt, 
on thf return of this Cerlirietjte. dtUtiOAgigned, 

'«■ lWltw««« WUfKTmat, Xhe President and Seeretnry lun<e hfreunio guhirrll^rl 
tiieiriuimes (inA euiivd Ihr sritl of liie Conipnnt/ to he affixed nt lielamt. lUiniti* thU 

_;/ ^day of _ 




Wigwam share certificate 



double door set back into the building far 
enough to allow for a ticket window on 
each side of the entrance. Tall 16 paned 
windows, two to a section gave it light. 
Wainscoating covered the lower part of the 
walls but the upper walls and the ceiling 
were papered. The building was heated by 
stoves, one on each side. Lighting at first 
was by kerosene lamps and lanterns until 
the town got electricity. Seating capacity 
was .500 or 600 and the seats were of the old- 
fashioned kitchen variety-probably 
natural color to begin with but later 
painted white. There are still a few in the 
town hall i now painted red.) Last, but not 
least, the building boasted a huge square 
piano, which did not outlast the building. 
In the later years a piano was rented from 
D.B. Troxel for special occasions and 
moved in when needed. 



The Republicans were the only users at 
first, the democrats stoutly refusing to 
have anything to do with it. But gradually, 
it became a Community building. In it, the 
citizens of DeLand attended Chatauqua 
and Star Courses, lectures, home talent 
plays, suppers, festivals of various kinds, 
school programs such as the Tom Thumb 
wedding, even commencement and 
poultry shows, and finally for basketball 
games. On Memorial Day the two chur- 
ches held joint services in one of the 
churches but on Decoration Day they held 
a program of music and speeches before 
the march to the cemetery led by the "old 
soldiers" to decorate the graves of their 
fallen comrades. If the day was extremely 
warm, the chairs were moved out into the 
adjoining grove and the services held 
there. In later years it was not too corn- 




Tom Thumb Wedding held on stage at Wigwam. 
— 77 — 



fortable as there were lots of drafts and on 
cold nights, everyone pulled his chair up as 
close as he could get to a stove and still 
froze. 

The Wigwam was built by the Goose 
Creek township Republicans for a place 
for political rallies. It was financed by 
selling shares of stock, forming a cor- 
poration, "The DeLand Wigwam Co." The 
plan at first was to build a temporary 
building but it seemed better to build a 
permanent one, so they changed plans. 
One of the stockholders was sent to 
Chicago to buy the lumber. After a short 
time, the building was used as a com- 
munity building and it served its purpose 
well for until the Township High School 
was built, it was the only auditorium in 
town that was large enough for some of 
the events. By the 1920's, many of the 
shareholders had moved away or had died, 
the building was in a bad state of repair 
and there was no one to repair it or to pay 
the taxes that had accumulated. The 
American Legion was offered the building, 
but it was at the beginning of the 
depression and they didn't feel able to bear 
the expense. Finally it was put up for sale 
for taxes. Faurest Borton bid it in, paid the 
accrued taxes and was given a tax title to 
the property. In the summer of 1931 he had 
it torn down, salvaging what lumber he 
could use in a new residence in Monticello. 
Thus the Unique building became a part of 
the history of DeLand. 

The Wigwam, begun in August of 1888 
was finished in October ready for use in 
the final weeks of the campaign. A torch 
light procession was formed for the first 
time the building was used with an address 
by the Hon. John Curry and a Mr. Zim- 
merman, both of Farmer City. 

On October 26, the Wigwam was 
dedicated and declared to '^stand as a 
temple of republicanism of which the 
republicans should feel proud." In spite of 
the unfavorable weather in the forenoon, 
the dwellings and business houses were 
tastefully decorated. At the same time, 
willing hands were trimming the Wigwam 
with those majestic colors of red, white 
and blue. By one o'clock the flag was flying 
from the pole atop the building; the 
rostrum, the center pole, and the windows 
had suitable draperies. On the walls were 
pictures of prominent republicans — 
Lincoln, Garfield, Grant, Hayes, Harrison, 
Fifer, Blaine, Logan and the Supreme 
Judges. Lincoln's picture, draped with a 
flag, received the position of honor behind 
the speaker's stand, with the pictures of 
the candidates (Harrison for president 
and Fifer for Illinois governor) on either 
side. 

By one o'clock, people had begun to 
gather. Short addresses were made by 
Charles Hughes, Robert Hudgens and 
others. A line of march was formed to 
meet the three o'clock train to escort the 
Honorable M.W. Mathews to the Wigwam 
where he delivered an address and 
dedicated the building in the name of 



Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Blaine and 
Logan and to the protection of American 
Industries. There were several other 
speakers. An estimated crowd of 700 
crowded into the building with a like 
number outside. It was a great day! 

The next week the national election of 
1888 passed off pleasantly for the Rep- 
ublican's whose candidate won over 
Cleveland. The Republicans gathered at 
the Wigwam to receive the returns which 
came to the depot by telegraph and were 
relayed by messenger to the Wigwam. It 
was an all night affair for many. 

The following Friday night, the Rep- 
ublicans ratified at the Wigwam. (Gave 
official confirmation of the result of the 
election.) Again there was a big crowd 
with a number of important people from a 
distance. There was music and speeches 
galore. At that time the west road to the 
cemetery did not exist and a huge bonfire 
was built south of the site of the present 
bridge. Everyone was invited to the 
celebration including the Democrats, 
many of whom came. A little amusement 
was created by the Republicans carrying 
all the Democrats they could catch around 
the bonfire. Of course, there was much 
resistance and a few were miffed, but most 
took it in good humor. After that, it 



became the custom for a bonfire to be built 
on election or ratification night with the 
winners carrying the losers around the 
bonfire. It was not long after this that the 
building began to be used by different 
groups and it became a community 
building, and remained so until the 
building of the high school provided a 
better auditorium. 

In the election of 1892, it was the 
Democrat's turn to gloat. Cleveland was 
elected again. The farmers were blaming 
the democrats for poor crops and bad 
times. The Democrats replied that the 
purchasing clause in the Sheridan Silver 
Act was to blame. 

In 1896, the Republicans formed a 
McKinley Club. The Democratic candidate 
was William Jennings Bryan. The Silver 
question was still the predominant 
question. There was a big rally at Mon- 
ticello. According to the paper. 

"The Monticello Rally by the Silverites 
was attended by a large delegation from 
DeLand. There were several loads of boys 
and girls dressed in gold and silver style. 
Sixteen silver horseback couples and one 
gold couple ( remember your history? 16 to 
1 ) and a long line of men on horseback and 
twenty carriages, all headed by the band. 
The rear was brought up by Uncle Sam 



T"- 



'MS^ 




The Wigwam, ISSX— l!i:!l 



78 



trying to raise silver. A large quantity of 
trappings were used which made a gay 
looking procession." 

McKinley was elected and the DeLand 
Republicans celebrated as usual with an 
unusual amount of noise. Mr. Chrisman 
was badly injured by the rough handling of 
those who were carrying him around the 
t)onfire. 

TAMKR TIMES 

After the turn of the century, politics 
became a little tamer. While there was 
plenty of rivalry in the small communities, 
only a few local meetings and speeches 
were still held and torchlight processions, 
all day rallies and bonfire shenanigans 
began to become a thing of the past. The 
fanfare disappeared. The meetings even 
then were more county than local. Now 
there is a Woman's club and a young 
peoples club in each party. A great effort is 
made to get out the vote and plenty of in- 
terest is shown when candidates visit the 
community. But the people can see the 
candidates and hear them speak on 
television sometimes too much. It gets a 
little boring to hear the same man say the 
same things a couple of dozen times. 
Times have certainly changed the politics! 

OUR RECORD 

Goose Creek has contributed three 
members to the State Legislature. They 
were William Hubbart. Seymour Marquiss 
and Julius N. Rodman. The township has 
also had several county officials besides 
the regular supervisor, who was always a 
member of the county board until recently. 
Now we elect a member but the present 
members are all from other townships. 
Seth Langdon was an early county 
treasurer; Harry Bickel — County Clerk. 
Faurest Borton and John William Bickel 
each circuit clerk and recorder: and 
Frank Wrench County Superintendant of 
Schools. Presently, there is Louis Foltz as 
Treasurer. Foltz lives in Blue Ridge 
township just across the line, but I think 
we can claim him partly, because all of his 
family community affilations are in 
DeLand. 

MR. REPUBLICAN 

There have been a number of people 
called "Mr Republican" because of their 
devotion to that party. The late Everett 
Dirksen won that name in the Senate and 
Robert Taft before him also was given that 
title. Well, Goose Creek township has had a 
couple of Mr. Republicans, too. The first 
was Ezra Marquiss who was not afraid to 
march across the square at Monticello 
with Abraham Lincoln even though he was 
surrounded by Democrats. Now we have a 
current Mr. Republican. He is P.E. Fonner 
of DeLand. ( Know as "Doc" ) who has just 
finished M years of service as Central 
Committeeman of the Republican Party in 
Piatt County. He has also held the post of 
Goose Creek Precinct committeeman for 




Konner store 



44 years and will continue in that, but 
retired from the county position. On May 
20. 1972. a recognition dinner was served at 
the High School to honor him and his wife, 
Mollie. 

More than 300 persons were present and 
the affair attracted Democrats as well as 
Republicans from all over Piatt County. 
Fonner was cited by Governor Oglivie in a 
letter read at the meeting for "demon- 
strating the highest degree of honesty, 
integrit>'. and loyalty to all the people in 
the country." He called Fonner's friend- 
ship one of his most treasured possessions. 
Representative (U.S.) Springer, the main 
speaker, said that Fonner never lost sight 
of the fact that he represented all the 
citizens of Piatt County. Fonner not only 
disagreed with the opposing party but 
sometimes differed with some in his own 
party. "When he took his stand, he always 
kept his word. He consistently did what he 
thought was right " 

Fonner also received a letter from 
President Nixon. Nixon noted that Fonner 
had always been the first to vote in his 
precinct and was the last Republican to go 
to bed at night after the returns were in 
He felt sure that Fonner would continue 
this practice. Fonner was presented a 
plaque from the Central Committee along 
with a number of letters. His wife received 
a gift of jewelry. 

Louis p'oltz. the new County Chairman, 
presided. A Barber Shop quartette from 
Champaign sang. Rev. John Cockerel of 
DeLand gave the invocation. 

Mr Fonner came to DeLand in 1916 as a 
young man and started a grocery in the 
building now owned and occupied by 
Henry Franklin's Antique shop When 
World War I came on, he sold the store to 
Jesse McBride but bought it back when he 
was released from the army. He conducted 
a store there for 29 years. Part of that 

-79- 



time. he and W.G. Trigg were partners 
conducting the grocery, a dry goods store, 
and a confectionary known as The Powder 
Puff. When the partnership was dissolved, 
Fonner took the grocery, Trigg the dry 
goods store and they sold the con- 
fectionary to someone else. 

Fonner conducted an excellent grocery. 
His shelves were always well-stocked, he 
and his clerks were friendly, honest and 
accommodating. Each year at Christmas 
time, he held a party for the community's 
children at which time all were treated to 
candy, oranges etc, and some adults were 
treated, too, I suspect. There was always a 
crowd. When Doc and Mollie were 
married, they lived in the house where 
John Remmers now lives. When J.B. 
Rinehart moved to Monticello, the Fon- 
ners bought their fairly new place and they 
still live there. The Fonners have one 
daughter. Carmen, who married Robert 
Huisinga and lives in Arizona. The 




KoiuuTs ;ii home. 



Huisinga's also have a daughter. 

John Vail was probably the "Mr. 
Democrat" of his day although he was 
mentioned only as "The Boss Democrat" 
in the early papers. The democrat who 
comes nearest that description at the 
present time, is Roy Vaughn who served 
quite some time as Democratic Precinct 
committeeman and a number of terms as 
County Chairman. 

Marlin White is the present Precinct 
committeeman of the Democratic party in 
Goose Creek township. 



CLEAN UP! PAINT UP! 

This was the motto seen here and there 
back in 1916 and 17 when Clean Up Cam- 
paigns began in DeLand. DeLand was not 
only THE BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN ON 
EARTH. It considered itself THE 
CLEANEST LITTLE TOWN ON EARTH! 
The clean up campaigns were started by 
the Woman's Club and carried on by them 
until the garden club was formed. They 
took over the job then because it seemed to 
be their line of work. They continued the 
annual campaign until 1941 when it was 
disbanded After that, it was no longer an 
annual affair, but was brought up from 
time to time by the two women's clubs. 
The town board always cooperated, 
hauling away the trash on certain 
designated days. 

Nearly everyone cooperated although 
there was always a few who did not. The 
town was divided into three or two sections 
most of the time two, the east and the 
west. Main street was the dividing line and 
if three sections were used, the railroad 
separated the south from the East and 
West. Each section had a captain and a 
block worker for each block. A point 
system was used which designated which 
conditions were to be considered and the 
number of points to be taken off if someone 
did not comply. Judges — usually from out 
of town toured the village and decided the 
result. Sometimes one side won, 
sometimes another. Once the judges 
simply couldn't find any difference as well 
as praise. One year there was a let down 
among the townspeople and they failed to 
cooperate well. The newspaper listed the 
number of trash piles, brush piles and 
manure piles that had not been hauled 
away. It made some faces a little red. 
Sometimes, the judges were lavish with 
their praise. One year the town was so 
clean that one of the judges — a professor 
from the U of I. was so impressed with the 
spirit of the Campaign that he used 
DeLand as one of his examples in his 
classes. Another time one of the judges 
was a newspaper woman from Decatur 
and she was so impressed that she gave 
DeLand a big write up in the Decatur 
paper. 

Sometimes Clean Up Week did not end 
with the Judges announcing the result. 
Programs were held in which this was 
done. The schools helped out by giving 



Maypole dances in the park. One year, the 
whole town concentrated their efforts on 
getting rid of flies. The children collected 
the flies they had killed, showed them at 
the program and prizes were given to the 
children with the most dead flies! At one 
program Richard Gantz, then a very small 
lad, appeared on the platform dressed in a 
black velvet suit with short pants and 
recited the following verse: 

"The early fly is the one to swat. 
It comes before the weather's hot; 
And sits around and files its legs, 
And lays at least two million eggs!" 

Miss Bondurant and Mrs. Trenchard 
were back of the clean up campaigns in the 
first place. They had won the cooperation 
of the woman's club and the town board. 
But they didn't stop there. One year. Miss 
Bondurant made a lot of wire hooks and 
organized the grade school children to go 
over the school ground and neighboring 
parts and pick up all the paper that had 
blown into fences. One year the grade 
school boys cleaned the park. Another 
time, the Boy Scouts turned out to get the 
job done. In 1928, the Woman's Club 
planted a Christmas tree in the park. 
Sometimes a tea was given at the Library 
Club room for the Judges. Often a motion 
picture was shown at the program. 

In 1922, a silver loving cup was given to 
the side that won. That was a big year. 
Practically everyone cooperated. The 
judges noted that one alley had been swept 
and they saw one woman clipping grass on 
the boulevard with a pair of scissors. At 
the program that night, both pastors and 
the mayor, J.E. Bickel, spoke. The East 
side won so the loving cup was presented to 
its captain. Mrs. Ethel Bickel. When she 
accepted the cup, she tried to console the 
West side by saying she was sorry they did 
not have a cup. At this point, she received 
a surprise for a china vase was presented 
as a consolation prize. Both loving cup and 
vase are kept at the library. 

One year the village hauled away 150 
loads of trash. After 1941, the occasional 
cleanup was sponsored by the two 
Woman's Clubs and the Household Science 
Club. 

There is talk in one of the clubs of a 
Clean-Up campaign this spring. It won't be 
such a chore as it was in the earlier days. 
Since the state shut down the village 
dump, people haul much of their trash to 
the landfill at Monticello and many of the 
citizens use the services of the Leach 
Disposal to get rid of the junk each week. 
The kids wouldn't have much luck at piling 
up dead flies because they are not so 
numerous. Plenty of them though. Some of 
the citizens have already started on 
sprucing up their properties. New fronts 
have been put into some of the stores. The 
library is being redecorated. It is to be 
hoped that everyone will get the fever and 
make our town a place of beauty for the 
Kioth anniversary activities. 

— BO- 



THEREUSEDTOBE 
GYPSIES AND TRAMPS 

Gypsies were a part of our way of life in 
the 1800's and in the early 190O's. Every 
summer, at least one band of the Romany 
nomads came through the village. 
Sometimes they camped along the road 
that is now route 10 just north of the 
cemetery. Sometimes they camped on va- 
cant lots between the Wigwam and the 
calaboose (creamery) which stood just 
south of the creek on Main Street. And 
sometimes they passed on through, 
camping on a grassy road called Lover's 
Lane by many or Scratch Out Lane by 
Jesse Combes. It entered the Monticello 
road about half way there. Usually, they 
paused in town while the women toured the 
town, going from door to door asking for 
handouts or offering to tell one's fortune. 
The children of the town were mostly 
afraid of them and made tracks for home 
when the Gypsies arrived. And no wonder, 
the grown ups had heard tales of gypsies 
kidnapping children and had given their 
offspring orders to rush home im- 
mediately if gypsies came to town. Most of 
them obeyed. Some even hid under their 
beds! The gypsies were not hard to spot. 
They usually were dressed in dirty, ragged 
clothes in gaudy colors. They had dark 
complexions and they traveled in 
dilapidated wagons drawn by poor guant, 
half starved horses. The writer remem- 
bers one time of passing a gypsy camp 
with her father driving their plump, yellow 
pony named Golddust. One man came out 
and ran alongside the buggy for a con- 
siderable distance trying to persuade my 
lather to trade horses. My father simply 
kept shaking his head and continued on his 
way until the gypsy finally gave up and 
turned back. 

Tramps were also to be reckoned with 
and no one was particularly comfortable 
when any were in town. A lot of people fed 
them for fear they would anger the tramp 
and cause him to do them harm. When it 
was cold, the village sometimes sheltered 
them for a night in the calaboose but the 
town marshall saw to it that they were on 
the first freight coming through the next 
day. Amusing incidents sometimes oc- 
curred such as the time a tramp came to 
the door of Mrs. Margaret Murphy. As he 
stood there, a small wren pecked at his 
hat. The tramp laughed and went off, 
forgetting what he had come for. Harriet 
Bowsher's lather always insisted that all 
tramps couldn't be bad. One had bowed his 
head and returned thanks for the food they 
had given him! Most of the tramps came in 
on the daily frieght and departed on the 
next train out, touring the town for han- 
douts beKveen times. 

There was an abundance of peddlers 
selling this or selling that. They were 
supposed to have a license to sell if from 
out of town but many probably got by 
without it But there were two peddlers 
who came each year and would have been 
missed if they had not shown up. They 



were Billy, the umbrella man, who 
mended umbrellas and also sharpened 
knives and scissors. And Sassfras Bob who 
supplied excellent sasafras for the making 
of tea in the spring. It was supposed to be 
good for the blood and likely did have 
merit. Anyhow, it was good. 

Mrs. Murphy also told a story about 
Billy. She gave him an old suit of 
Raymonds. Billy went out along the 
railroad track, changed clothes and came 
back to town. Some one recognized the suit 
and told it Raymond was kidded for years 
about it. 

One year, a gypsy woman gave birth to a 
baby girl somewhere in the northern part 
of Piatt County. What did she name if 
I'latta' 

When automobiles became plentiful, the 
gypsies took to driving cars and the 
colorful caravan became a thing of the 
past Tramps, too, found better ways of 
traveling and are now a matter of history, 
i5ob and Billy are long deceased and 
[)eddlers are no more. But they are not 
needed. You can buy anything at a 
supermarket. Or can YouV What about 
nostiilgia' 

DELAND CITIZENS 

Some of the people who lived in DeLand 
and Goose Creek township after the 
founding of DeLand and some who live 
there now follow: 

The people who settled in the township 
often settled near those whom they knew 
previously. For instance, the many 
German families settled in what was later 
called the Kentuck area (the school was 
called Kentuck) and to this day you will 
find many of the descendants of those 
families in that area and to the west of 
DeLand. The Fitzwater family and its 
related families lived east of DeLand. The 
early Marquisses and Piatts lived in the 
southeast corner and related families still 
live in that area. 

Probably the largest family group of 
families in Goose Creek at the present 
time are the Huisingas — all descended 
from one Englebert Huisinga who came to 
America from Germany with his two 
brothers — Warner and John — in 1888. 
There are twelve of the name Huisinga 
listed in the current telephone book. Bert, 
as he was called, was sixteen years old 
when he came to the United States. His 
two brothers had made several trips — 
sometimes three or four times a year, 
accompanying and caring for fine, fancy 
coach horses. They brought the horses for 
two uncles — Gebhart and Tony Altman, 
brothers of their mother, who lived in 
Watseka, Illinois, and sold them. 

The Huisinga boys and their sister 
F'eckalina had become orphans at an early 
are and were reared by their grand- 
mother When Warner and John decided 
to make America their home, they also 
decided to bring the younger brother with 
them. The older sister, who had always 



looked after her brothers was by that time 
married to Anton E. Grethe and had three 
small children of her own Antonia, 
Augusta and Emil. She thought she should 
continue to look after her brothers, so the 
Grethes, too, pulled up stakes and 
emigrated, arriving in 1890. 

The first stop was in the Kentuck neigh- 
borhood, where there were many friends 
and former neighbors from Germany, and 
where they were among German-speaking 
people, which made it much easier to pick 
up the English language. 

Bert Huisinga first did farm work in this 
neighborhood. In 1896, he married Mary 
Remmers, daughter of Peter and Anna 
Bruhn Remmers of Logan county. They 
made their home southwest of DeLand 
from that time on. 

The Huisingas became the parents of a 
large family of children and most of those 
children or their descendants now live on 
farms in Piatt county. The children were: 
Harm B. who married Geneva McMillen 
and had two sons, James and Joe who are 
Goose Creek farmers. Joe is the Huisinga 
whose grandchildren are descended from 
the Marquisses, the McMillens, the 
Huisingas and the Lubbers. After 
Geneva's death. Harm married Louise 
Bartison and by her had Raymond, 
Rosetta Slazon and Lynette. Harm is 
deceased. Louise has since married 
Homer Prine. 

John Huisinga, married 1. Bernice 
Olson. 2. Hilma Bowdre. They have six 
children, some of them married and away 
from here. 

Peter died of the flu in 1918 when he was 
a student at the University of Illinois and 
was taking ROTC training. 

Bert married Geneva Goken. Their 
children are Beulah who married Richard 
Robson and has three children, and Dale 
who married Nancy Heath and has four 
children. 

Ervin Huisinga (deceased) married 
Marjorie Roos. Their son Lindell 
married Judith Bliss, has three sons and 
lives on the farm his father farmed. Er- 
vins daughter, Judith, married Sam 
Carmer, has two sons and a daughter and 
lives in Champaign. 

Milford Huisinga (deceased) married 
Mary Ann Bragg (deceased). They were 
the parents of three children — Linden, 
and Donald who both farm and Barbara 
who married W.J. Lee. They have four 
children. Linden married Marilyn Pat- 
terson and has five children. 

Anne Huisinga married Dorr Simer and 
had one son — also named Dorr. Then 
Junior Dorr married Jean Felz and has 
five children. They live in DeWitt county. 
Dorr Senior is deceased and Ann lives in 
Monticello. 

Lola IS the wife of Edwin Reed. They 
have four children — Mary Ann, Joan, 
Carol and Jim They live just south of 
DeLand. 
Mr. Englebert Huisinga died in 1963. 



81 



Mrs. Huisinga is now in her nineties and at 
the present time is in the hospital. They 
celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary 
shortly before Mr. Huisinga's death. 

Warner Huisinga's son. Harm J. also 
lived in Goose Creek for a while. One of his 
daughters — Lorene — married Dale 
Robinson and lives in the southeast corner 
of the township on Da Fitzwater's place. 
Dale is a grandson of Da. 

The Grethe family arrived in the United 
States in March of 1890. After living in the 
Kentuck neighborhood for awhile, they 
settled on a farm near Bement. F'rom 
there they moved to a farm north of 
DeLand and finally into DeLand itself 
where Mr Grethe became custodian of the 
IX'Land school building. Besides the three 
torn in (iermany, the Grethes had seven 
other children — three of whom died in 
infancy. Those who lived to grow up were 
Gasena, Janetta, Ottoline and Lenora. All 
of the children graduated from DeLand 
High school except Lenora who was a 
senior when they moved to Decatur. And 
all the girls but Gasena were teachers, 
teaching mostly in the Piatt County 
schools. 

In 1908 and 09, Antonia and Augusta 
spent almost a year visiting relatives in 
Germany, but came home a little early 
becau.se of the illness of their mother and 
the death of their baby sister, born while 
they were in Germany. 

When World War I came on, Emil 
enlisted in the army. Before the United 
States became a part of it, F:mil received a 
letter from Germany instructing him to 
return to Germany for army duty When 
Mr and Mrs. Grethe became citizens of 
the United States, they neglected to take 
out papers for Emil, presumably because 
of his age, a mere infant. And over the 
years they neglected doing so. 'Vou can 
believe that Mr. Grethe lost no time in 
.setting forces in motion to make his son a 
citizen when that letter came. Emil 
married and is now deceased as are An- 
tonia, Augusta and Gasena Emil's wife 
was Beulah Loveless of Webster City, 
Iowa. They had one son, Antonia 
married Dr. Robert Hathaway, then of 
Cisco. They had two children — Loretta 
and Dale. Augusta married Arthur Gill, a 
former DeLand teacher and had three 
sons. The Gills lived in Keokuk, Iowa. 
Gasena married Jim Quinn and had four 
children After Jim's death she married 
Roy Crouthamel. Gasena died recently. 
Living are Janetta, who married Aubrey 
Milligan. After many years on a farm 
southwest of here, they retired to Mon- 
ticello Their only son, Robert, lives with 
them. Ottoline is Mrs. Earl Loveless of 
Webster City. Iowa. Their only daughter 
lives in Denver. Lenora, Mrs. Homer Byrd 
is living in Arizona. Her husband is 
deceased. 

Mr and Mrs. Chris Roos of DeLand have 
lived in Goose Creek township since their 
marriage. Chris was born here. Mrs. 
Roos was Pearl MacGuire. Their family 



consists of a daughter Marjorie, who lives 
in DeLand since the death of her husband, 
Ervin Huisinga, and Mack Roos who is 
married and lives in the northern part of 
Goose Creek township. Marjorie has six 
grandchildren. Mack's son, John Dean 
lives in DeLand and their daughter Mary 
Rose Roos is married and lives away from 
here. 

The Roos Family also originated in 
Germany. Chris's grandfather — 
Christian Roos came to the United States 
to Logan county in 1855. He married 
Magdaline Meyer a little later and settled 
on a farm there. In 1860, their son John 
was born. John lived with his father until 
1886 when he came to Piatt county and 
rented a farm until 1896 when he bought a 
farm north west of DeLand. In 1908, he 
built a modern bungalow in DeLand where 
he lived in his retirement. His son Chris 
now lives upon the farm northwest of 
DeLand. 

Mr. John Roos married Dena Lubbers 
who was born in Germany and came to 
Illinois in 1870 with her father Reemt 
Lubbers (wife Gerhart Boekoff.) The 
Roos's also had a daughter Anna who 
married John Ammann. 

Anna Roos and John Ammann live 
directly west of DeLand. Her husband is 
deceased. They had two daughters — 
Irlene, who married Wayne Honselman 
and lived in Goose Creek township until his 
death. She is a teacher in special 
education in the Monticello school system. 
The other daughter is Esther who married 
Harold Floyd (also deceased) and lives 
west of her mother's home. The Floyd's 
had a son Philip, who is married and has 
two children — David and Theresa. They 
live away from here. 

John Ammann was the son of another 
John Ammann who was an early merchant 
in DeLand, running a boot and shoe shop. 
The mother was Margaret Duvall. After 
her husbands death, she continued to live 
in the house now occupied by Clarence 
Smith. I believe there was another son 
named Will. 

Peter Remmers, the father of Mrs. Bert 
Huisinga, was reared in Germany. He 
came first to Logan County and engaged in 
farming. In 1888, he bought land in Goose 
Creek township and also in Willow Branch 
and moved here. He retired to DeLand in 
1909, purchasing the house now occupied 
by Lola Trigg. He died in 1913. 

He married Anna Bruhn, a daughter of 
Peter and Annie Bruhn, who came to 
Logan County in 1872. They had several 
children: Jerko, who continued to live in 
Logan County; Vandaline (Mrs. Lubbert 
Lubbers), Anna (Mrs. Ike Lubbers), Mary 
(Mrs. Bert Huisinga), Peter, Kate (Mrs. 
Otto Lubbers), John, Jennie (Mrs. Talbert 
Heller) and Henry. 

John Remmers married Grace Swisher 
of DeLand. They had three children, 
Harold and Evelyn and Ernest. Harold 
married Doris Gaskill in 1944. Their three 
living children are Allynex who married 



Virgil Gaskill in 1964; Beverly married 
Earl Cox in 1968; and Betty Lou. 

Evelyn married Max Campbell, son of 
D. Forrest Campbell. Their daughter 
Marilyn married John Grubb. Their three 
children are Julia, Kathleen and Karen 
Joy. Evelyn and Max have a second 
daughter. 

Ernest Remmers married Mabel 
Elizabeth White of Manito. Mrs. Rem- 
mers died in 1972. Their four children are 
Harry of Littleton, Colorado; John of 
Weldon; Mrs, Harry McClure of Gibson 
City and Ruth Remmers of Normal. 

Jennie Remmers married Talbert 
Heller, but died very soon. Talbert was the 
son of Jim and Minnie Heller who lived in 
DeLand after he retired. Henry married 
Gladys Souders of DeLand. 

The Souders family came to Piatt county 
in 1896 and moved to DeLand in 1897. 
Jim Souders was born in Iowa, Alice at 
Brooklyn, Illinois. The family lived here 
until 1914 when Jim joined a crew of in- 
terior decorators from Champaign and 
went to Florida where he lived until 1946, 
dying at the age of 80. Mrs. Souders had 
passed away before he left here. Mr. 
Souders was the first rural carrier out of 
DeLand. He also acted as village clerk for 
some time. He was also a painter and 
paper hanger in the DeLand Community 
and was a member of the DeLand Band. 
The Souders had three sons and a 
daughter. Ralph, the eldest, was killed 
while on duty as a policeman in Chicago. 
He was married and the father of two sons. 
Walter lived in Piatt County most of his 
life. He had five sons and one daughter. 
The daughter is Mrs. Richard Loney 
(Darlene) of DeLand. Donald died in 
California in 1965. His wife and one son, 
Robert Stuart, survived. 

Gladys Remmers (Mrs. Henry Rem- 
mers) was the only daughter. She and 
Walter were twins. The Remmers have 
two children — Richard and Imogene. The 
Loneys have a son, Dan and a daughter, 
Diane who is married to Ralph Musick. 
An interesting note on the Souders 
Family. Alice Stuart Souders was a 
descendant of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her 
father served under William of Orange. 
Mrs. Remmers has her mother's portion of 
his Orange sash of that military order. 

Richard Loney of the above sketch is the 
son of George and Stella Loney. He has 
two sisters, Maxine and Sara. A third 
sister died when young. He also has a 
brother James. All are married and have 
families. Only Richard lives here. Both 
George and Richard have been in the 
service of the Postal Department. George 
was carrier for 37 years and Richard is the 
present carrier. George's brother Charles 
(deceased) also served as a rural carrier 
earlier. Charles was a Methodist minister, 
serving churches in Pennsylvania. He also 
served as a singing evangelist. George 
and Charles has a sister Hazel who is 
married and has a son and lives in 



82 



Wisconsin. 

John Loney, their father, and Eliza Jane 
Gray, lived in Piatt County from 1902 on 
and moved to DeLand in 1912. Eliza Jane's 
father was Salathial Gray, a Civil War 
Veteran. He married Sara Eva Magee in 
1866, having come to Illinois from Ohio in 
the 1850's. They lived in or near DeLand 
from 1907 on. They had quite a large 
family, including Grace and Rebecca, and 
P'rank and Otis who were young people 
when the family moved to DeLand. Grace 
and Rebecca taught in the local schools for 
several years. Frank and Otis both 
married; Otis to Florence Simmons, a 
local girl. All of the Grays are now 
deceased. Florence Simmons Gray lives 
in Decatur. 

Florence Simmons Gray was the 
daughter of Charles Simmons who was 
DeLand's only veteran of the Spanish 
American War. He spent three years in 
the Phillippines. He worked several years 
at the Porter grain elevator and then 
became custodian of the school. His wife 
was a sort of practical nurse or midwife 
and cared for many of the new babies in 
the community and their mothers. In 
those days, women had their children at 
home, not in a hospital. Their children 
were Ida Cooper, Florence Gray, Helen 
and Roy and Elmer. All moved away from 
DeLand. 

I have one vivid recollection of Charlie 
Simmons. He was a kindly man and 
usually very accommodating. When that 
kind of man is in a school, the kids 
sometimes take advantage of his 
disposition. Once while he was there, the 
high school girls got tired of sitting 
humped over at desks that were spaced too 
widely. It seems that a year or two before 
there was a number of rather large girls in 
high school and the spaces had to be 
widened for their comfort. Then this 
skinny bunch came along and the seats 
needed changing. We went to Mr. Sim- 
mons and aksed him to please change the 
desks. He bluntly refused. He had 
changed them not long ago and he wasn't 
going to move them again! But we begged 
and wheedled until he gave up and agreed 
to put them down if we'd take them up. 
The next day, the girls all arrived with 
screwdrivers in their hands. Mr. Weed- 
man was home with the mumps. Mrs. 
Weedman was in charge. It seemed like a 
propitious time. The day was spent 
leaning over — ostensibly reading — but 
actually loosening the seats. If Mrs. 
Weedman caught on (and I am sure she 
did), she said not a word. Everyone 
lingered after school and arranged his seat 
to his liking. The next school day found the 
desks in the new place and everyone was 
happy. I wonder if we even said thank you 
to Mr. Simmons! 

The Lubbers were numerous in the 
Kentuck community. This family is hard 
to write about because there were so many 
with the same first names. I tried at one 
time, while teaching at Kentuck, to get 



them straight in my mind. Naomi Meyers 
said: "Don't try it. I've been in the family 
for 20 years and have never got them 
straight! " It seems that there were two 
brothers who came from Germany about 
1850. Lubbert Lubbers and his wife, 
Martha Ann Wiggers had seven children. 
Ella married Warner Huisinga, Reemt 
married Fanny Bolson, Dena married 
John Huisinga, Eike married Anna 
Remmers, Anna married Hermann Bruns, 
and F'anny married Peter Remmers. 
They moved in 1876 to a farm in Goose 
Creek township. After Mr. Lubber's 
death, his wife married his brother Eike. 
They had two sons. Otto who married 
Katie Remmers and Sweeter who married 
Clara Wacks. Otto and Katie Remmers 
Lubbers had two daughters — Mabel, who 
married Leaman Quick and Roberta who 
married Byrl Kidd. Mabel lives at Mon- 
ticello and Roberta in Goose Creek 
township. Roberta and Byrl have three 
children — Robert, at home, Sylvia who 
married P>ank Lefrano and has a small 
daughter and Loretta who teaches. 
Sweeter, Jr. lives in the Kentuck neigh- 
borhood. He married Helen Kirkland. 

Lubbert Lubber's brother Otto also 
came to America in 1870. After living in 
Logan county for awhile, they came to 
Goose Creek township and settled. They 
were the parents of Eike; P'anny, the wife 
of Chris Roos ( probably the grandfather of 
the present Chris Roos or an uncle) ; Otto, 
George and Nettie Rohlfs and Dena, the 
wife of John Roos — the parents of the 
present Chris Roos. 

Otto married Kate Remmers, daughter 
of Jurko and Wendeline Tanhoe. They 
were the parents of Dena (Mrs. Lewis 
Meyer); Winnie (Mrs. Jurgan Weets) 
(parents of Albert Weets); Cornelious 
Weets and Floyd Weets, now all of Mon- 
ticello. P'annie (Mrs. Chris Lubbers), 
Reemt, Jurko, Kate and Otto. Reemt 
Lubbers, son of Otto and Katie Remmers 
married Anna E. Lubbers and had two 
daughters — Katie and Marguerite, (Mrs. 
Seymour Knisely). Katie married Silas 
Cook and had one son — Ronald who lives 
on his parents' farm in Kentuck neigh- 
borhood. 

Chris and Fanny Lubbers moved to 
Colorado. They had ten children: Otto, 
Eike, Katie, Christian, Peter, Fanny, 
Anora and Rudolph Their daughter 
Anora, the wife of Clarence Smith, lives in 
DeLand and teaches 4th grade in the 
DeLand-Weldon grade school. Clarence, 
assisted by the oldest son, James, runs a 
garage in DeLand. They have two other 
boys — Dean and Jerry. All are married. 
Clarence is the son of Alva and Dena 
Heikens Smith Alva Smith was killed 
when a horse threw him when Clarence 
and his brother Essel were quite small. 
Mrs Smith continued to live in the home 
they had built in DeLand. The Heikens 
family was quite large Most of the family 
moved to Iowa. 

Eike Lubbers, brother of Anora, lives in 



Missouri but did live here. He married 
Esther Ferry. They had Jean, Joan and 
Richard. AH but Jean now live in 
Missouri. Jean is the wife of Joe Huisinga. 
Their children are Danny, Larry, Darrell, 
Gail and Susan. 

The Meyers family is also related to the 
Lubbers. Harm Meyers was the son of 
Lewis Meyers. He married Naomi Vaughn 
— sister of Roy Vaughn. They had two 
children Dale and Kathleen (Mrs. Arilis 
Foster). The Fosters have two sons and a 
daughter. Lewis Meyers wife was Dena 
Lubbers, daughter of Otto Lubbers and 
Kate Remmers. Lewis Meyers other son 
was George Meyers who married Belle 
Regnold. They had three children — 
Rincha who married Jurko Lubbers; 
Hermann, who married Louise Diss; and 
Pearl who married Darst Colvin. 

Jurko Lubbers, Mrs. Meyers brother, 
married Rincha Meyers and had two 
children, Arthur and a daughter. Arthur 
lived on the Lubbers farm in Kentuck 
district but has moved to DeWitt county. I 
believe he has passed on. They had two 
children. Jurko Lubbers later married 
Lura Richards of Monticello. 

Herman and Louise have four children. 
Marjorie who married Gilbert Price had 
five children — Marilyn (VanEtta), 
Phyliss Reynolds, Joanne Reynolds, 
Laura Lamb and Sandra Harris. There 
are twelve children in these familes. 

Robert and Betty Sharp Meyers live in 
Clinton. They have three boys. Bruce and 
his first wife had four children — Curtis, 
Mary Margaret Morgan, Donna and 
Esther. He has four step children by his 
second wife Karin. They are Kristy, 
Carmella, Lynn and John Colombo. 

Marlene (Mrs. Wm. Dean) of Virginia 
have two sons — Roger and Blaire and a 
daughter — Debra 

One more family that I believe is related 
to the Lubbers is Mrs. Ralph Gilbreath. 

I hope I have all these people put into the 
proper category, but I doubt it. Good luck 
if you try. 

The Goken family also came to DeLand 
from Germany. There were several 
children including Goke, Jennie and Grace 
who all lived at one time or another in 
DeLand. Jennie married a Montana man 
named Morland and had several children. 
Grace never married. All are deceased. 
The only Goken in Goose Creek township 
that I know of is Geneva Goken, wife of 
Bert Huisinga. 

Most of the Gokens settled around 
Weldon. The mother was widowed early, 
but with the help of her daughters 
managed to make a living. 

There are four of John Bickel's family 
living today — Claude, Daisy, Lola and 
Opal Daisy and Lola live in DeLand 
Daisy was the wife of John Adams who 
was one of three brothers living in this 
community John was custodian of the 
Township High School for many years. 
Most of their married life was spent in 



83 



DeLand but they lived in Flora and 
another town for a while. John has passed 
away. Mrs. Adams is in her eighties and 
spends her winters with their only 
daughter. Alberta, who lives in South 
Dakota. Alberta was a nurse in World War 
II and received many honors. Leslie was 
an officer in that war. At the present time 
he is teaching in Puerto Rico. He taught at 
the Academy at Onargo for many years, 
and also taught in DeLand. Roland 
became an undertaker in Seattle. He is 
deceased. Gaylord worked in the 
postoffice here and at Champaign. He is 
now retired. 

Another Adams was Jake, who for a long 
time ran a dray in DeLand. He married 
first Viola McNeir who had a daughter, 
Gladys, now Mrs. Lona Combes. After 
Viola's death, he married Esther 
Marquiss. He had children by both wives. 
His and Violas children were Pauline who 
married Lyie Hill and Kenneth (deceased) 
who married Margaret Diegal. 

The third Adams brother was George 
Adams who lived east of town. He married 
Maggie Clordan His sons Gordan and 
Winfield are deceased. Keith lives in 
Monticello and Katherine Newberry at 
Farmer City. Mrs. Adams — a graduate of 
the first high school class - died recently. 
She was in her nineties. 

Daisy Adams (Mrs. John) is an ac- 
complished pianist and played the organ 
and the piano at the Methodist church for 
many years. She started playing at a very 
early age. 

Lola Bickel Trigg, the daughter of John 
Bickel is probably the oldest person living 
today who has lived here continuously. 
Her sister, Daisy, is probably the oldest 
person born in DeLand. Lola married 
Charles Trigg following his return from 
the service In 1919. They had two children, 
Jim and Charlene Jim married Elsie 
Crosby and they have a boy and a girl both 
married Charlene who married Raymond 
Turnipseed has a son Vic Jim and his 
mother have the undertaking business left 
by Mr. Trigg. This business has been in 
the family for over seventy years starting 
with the grandfather, George Trigg about 
1902 

George Trigg married and had sons 
Charles and William and a daughter, Eva. 
After his wife's death he married Ida 
Troxell and had twins, Ivan and Irene. 
Ivan is an undertaker in California. Irene 
(deceased) married Gene Sparrow They 
had one son, Robert, who married one of 
the Loney girls. 

William Trigg, long time drygoods 
merchant, was the son of George Trigg. 
He married Bess F'leming of Weldon. 
They have one daughter, Shirley, who 
married David Tcets. The Teets have two 
children. Tammy and David. Bill, as 
everyone calls him. had hip joint disease 
when he was In grade school He is one of 
those admirable people who has never let 
his disability prevent success in his chosen 
career, nor has he let it affect his cheer- 



fulness. He was Supervisor of Goose Creek 
Township for one term. 

Chalmer Cox married Lois Howe in 1935 
and lived in Mansfield until 1961, when 
they moved to DeLand. They live about 
two miles west of DeLand. They have two 
sons, George and Kenneth. George with 
his wife, the former Sandra Thibideau and 
their two children live at Warsaw, Indiana. 
Kenneth married Beverly Rammers of 
this township. They also have two children 
and live near Mansfield. 

Two of the children of Harve and Ollie 
demons live in this area. They are Lorin 
demons who lives west of DeLand and 
Cecil demons and wife Golda who live in 
DeLand. Cecil and Golda have a son 
Duane who married Beverly Smith, 
daughter of Willard and Faun Smith. They 
have three children and live in Decatur. 
Cecil was township assessor for a number 
of years. He is now retired. Golda also has 
retired from her work at the local elevator. 
Willard Smith gained fame as a raiser of 
bees. He sold considerable honey and took 
prizes at the State Fair for his products. 
Faun was the former Faun Plankenhorn. 
They have two daughters artd one son. 
Ruby who married Frank Anderson and 
lives in California. They have two or three 
children. Beverly who married Duane 
demons have three children, two sons and 
a daughter. Richard who married one of 
the Sprague girls, have two or three 
children. Willard died just recently. 

Bert Smith and wife Mattie Lee and their 
two daughters came to Piatt county in the 
spring of 19;}5 to a Madden farm near 
Centerville. Two years later they moved 
to DeLand. At that time Bert was selling 
McConnon products but gave that up to 
become janitor of the grade school and the 
Methodist church. For awhile he did farm 
work until he retired. Rachel the oldest 
daughter married Hammond Maria and 
has one daughter, Karen They live in 
Florida. Norma, the second daughter, 
married Lyle Becker and had three 
children, Kenneth and Kathy (twins) and 
David. Kathy is deceased. Later she 
married William Robbins and they have 
one son, Joseph. 

Donald Persons came to Piatt county in 
1935. Roberta Nodacker, his wife, came in 
1941. They have four children, Karl Jon, 
Earl Glenn, Clair Lea and Lois Fay. All 
four are married and live away from here. 
Donald's mother, Jennie Leevy Persons 
came from Pennsylvania around 1883. 
They settled near DeLand moved to 
Weldon and then returned to a farm in the 
Wisegarver school disttrict. Mrs. Persons 
lives in Weldon since her husband's death. 
Mrs. Persons sister was Mrs. Sherman 
Elder of DeLand. Mr. Elder was in the 
concrete business here. His name is on 
many DeLand sidewalks. (I believe that 
one of the Leevy girls also married a 
Goken from DeLand.) Mr. Elder made 
urns which are numerous in the DeLand 
cemetery. There were a number of Elder 
children — Gertrude, Hazel, Lola, 
Howard, Leslie and perhaps others. They 



are all away from here. The Don Persons 
live on a farm owned by Martha Hursh 
northeast of DeLand. Mrs. Person's 
parents also lived in DeLand for awhile. 
Mr. Nodacker is deceased. Mrs. Nodacker 
makes her home at Evenglo Lodge, a 
Methodist home in Pontiac. 

Harold and Ollie Clifton have retired 
from the farm where they lived for many 
years east of DeLand. Their son Wendell 
iives on the farm now. He married Joan 
Taylor. They have two daughters and a 
son. The daughters are married. Mrs. 
Ollie Clifton's mother, Mrs. Burkett, also 
lives in DeLand. 

The Leischner family have lived in the 
township since the 1880's. John Leischner 
and family moved here from Mansfield in 
1881. His wife was Kathryn Long of 
Pennsylvania. Their children were Rosa 
Mathews, Elizabeth Wigginton, Margaret 
Merry, Sally Cundy, all living away from 
here after their marriages, and Daniel, 
Edward and Simon who were farmers in 
Goose Creek. When John and his wife 
retired, they came to DeLand and lived out 
on East 3rd street — the last house in that 
part of town today. Daniel and his wife, 
Annie lived just south of the Leischner 
home today, which was the home of Ed- 
ward Leischner for many years. Edward 
married Winnie Ellis. They were the 
parents of Sebern Holforty, Darlene 
Thompson (formerly Darlene Walden), 
Marjorie, John, Ellis and Vernelle. John is 
now living on this farm with his wife, 
Kathryn Wolfe, (a home ec. teacher in the 
local high school), and his son John. 
(John was Supervisor for quite some 
time.) The daughter, Rebecca, married 
Jim Hicks and has two children and lives 
in Monticello. Richard is also married 
with a child and lives away from here. 
Ellis lives in DeLand, and is in the in- 
surance business. I believe he also farms 
the Simon Leischner place southwest of 
DeLand. Ellis' wife, Henrietta, is the 
postmaster at the present time. They have 
four children - Judith ( Mrs. Sam Tucker ) 
who has two daughters; Edward who has 
two children and lives in DeLand; Robert 
and Connie, both of whom are married and 
live away from here. Vernelle, married, 
lives west of DeLand, but in DeWitt 
county. He farms his mother's farm. He 
and Margaret have three sons. The father, 
Ed Leischner, was postmaster for a little 
while but died during his term. Mrs. 
Leischner moved to DeLand after her 
husband's death. She also is now 
deceased. 

Simon, the third son, lived with his wife. 
Dr. Susie Ryals, an osteopath who prac- 
ticed in DeLand for sometime. They had 
no children. 

Gaylord Madden, cashier at the DeLand 
State Bank and Sally Stone, daughter of 
Lee Stone of this township, were married 
in 1922 and moved immediately to DeLand. 
They have lived here ever since except for 

— 84 — 



three years spent in Champaign. They 
have two children — Gaylord Neil who is 
assistant cashier at the bank. Neil has two 
daughters — Mary Frances and Sherri 
Lee. Neil's wife, Sally Ann, is the daughter 
of George Harris who ran a grocery here. 
Gaylord and Sally's daughter, Joyce, 
taught at Bloomington. She married 
James Anderson of Normal and lives in 
Normal. They have one small son. 

Howard and Hattie Bartison have 
always lived in this township. Their 
children are Louise, formerly wife of 
Harm Huisinga, now wife of Homer Prine. 
Louise has three children — Raymond, 
Rosetta and Lynette. The other Bartisons 
are Viola McCartney and Ernest 
(deceased). 

Helen and Mary Baker live in their 
father's property in DeLand. Helen 
worked for many years as a clerk at 
Trigg's dry goods. She is now working at 
the Library as a substitute. Mary works at 
the Singer Sewing Center, Country Fair at 
Champaign. Their sister, Beulah, married 
Paul Primmer and lives on the Baker farm 
east of DeLand. They have three grown 
children Terry, Paula and Cheryl. 

Mr. and Mrs. Everett Maden has two 
daughters Joyce and Freda. They are 
both married and live away from here. 
Both have children. Everett is caretaker 
of the township cemeteries — DeLand and 
three old rural cemeteries. He has also 
studied for the ministry in the Baptist 
church. Helen's mother, Mrs. Beasley, 
also live in DeLand. Her father is 
deceased. Everett's father was George 
Maden. 

Ted Bell's in the Kentuck district have 
several boys who have turned out to be 
ministers. They are now all away from 
here. 

There are two Buchanan families — 
those of George and Frank. George 
married Margaret White, daughter of Ben 
White and his wife who lived here most of 
her life. Margaret is deceased. They have 
a family of five boys and two girls, all 
married. Paul was killed in an accident. 
The boys are Gene, Bennie, Danny, Keith 
and Kenneth. Only Kenneth lives in 
DeLand. Nola and Nancy are the 
daughters. Both have children. George 
and his boys are in the carpenter business. 

Frank and Icis Buchanan also had 
several boys and one girl. All are married 
and away from DeLand. Frank is 
deceased. Icis still lives here. 

There are several Burton families in the 
community. Those in DeLand are 
Lavonne Burton, who works at Capital 
Records in Champaign. She has two boys 
— Dewayne and Harold Dean in Farmer 
City and Joyce in Clinton. She has three 
grandsons and a granddaughter. Two of 
the grandsons are late acquisitions! 

Mattie Burton works at the hospital in 
Monticello. Her two boys and a girl are all 
married and away from here. 

Arthur Burton and his wife had several 
children, now all grown. 



John Murphy of the DeLand Tribune was 
at one time in the lumber business in 
Monticello. He learned the printers trade 
at Monticello and for ten years was 
foreman of the Taylorville Republican. 
He came to DeLand in 1898 to help out in an 
emergency on the paper and stayed to buy 
it. He married Margaret Schackel. They 
had a son Raymond and three daughters — 
Leota, wife of Charlie Gilmore and lives at 
Leroy; Haidee who married Jesse Gray 
and lives at Champaign and Marian, wife 
of Dr. Richards of Champaign. At their 
father's death, Raymond took charge of 
the paper and ran it until he retired. He 
has since died. He married Ersa Hut- 
chinson of Weldon. They have two 
daughters— Mary Margaret and Dorothy. 
There are several grandchildren. 

Roy and Grace MuUvain moved here 
from Fisher in the 1940's. They lived on 
the farm where the Cox's live now. Roy 
has a shop on the hill where he works on 
electrical motors. He has been supervisor 
of Goose Creek township for several years. 
Grace is an assistant at the postoffice. 
She plays the organ at the Methodist 
church. They have two children — Philip 
who is married and lives at El Paso. They 
have three children. Their daughter, 
Janet, is married to Jerry Palmer and 
lives east of DeLand and has one child. 

There are three Nortons in DeLand 
beside their mother who is Pearl Norton, 
wife of the late Charles E. Norton. They 
formerly farmed southest of DeLand. 
Charles Norton Junior also lives on a farm 
near DeLand. He is married to Ruth 
Anderson, daughter of Ellsworth An- 
derson, long time resident of DeLand. 
They have one son, James who is married 
to Norma Ruth Mitchell, has four children 
and does carpenter work in Monticello. 
The second son is Carl Ray Norton, part 
owner of the DeLand Locker plant. He 
married Mary Lou Webb, daughter of Ted 
Webb. They have one daughter. 

liobert Norton works at the water 
plant. He is married and he and Marlene 
have three children, a son and two little 
girls. 

Mr. and Mrs. Earl Rule have three 
daughters — Genelle, Betty and Wilma. 
All are married. Genelle lives here, the 
wife of Irvin Trimble. They have two girls. 
Earl works for Mr. Trenchard. 

The Trimbles have lived in the com- 
munity for many years. The father was 
Carson Trimble. The boys in this com- 
munity are: Arthur, Irvin, Wilbur and 
Willie. They have a sister. Norma. All 
have families. Leo Trimble, son of Carl 
also lives here. 

The Parrish family was a large family. 
The father was }{obert Parrish, and the 
mother's name was Elizabeth. They lived 
here for many years celebrating their 
anniversary each year on January first 
with most of their children present. The 
children who stayed in this community 
were Sherman, Roy and Fred and Will. 
Will married and had three or four 



children and lived here for a time after his 
wife's death. John married Jennie Gates. 
Their one daughter is Mrs. Paul White of 
near DeLand, who has a son and a 
daughter. Sherman married Carrie 
Broadwell. Their children were Robert 
Paul, Clarence, Kenneth, Max, Veda Mae 
and Betty Williams. Kenneth and his wife, 
Betty Rudisill have one son. Kenneth 
works at the High School as custodian and 
Betty is a nurse at Kirby Hospital. Their 
father, Sherm, was custodian of the 
Carnegie Library for over forty years. He 
also had a butchering business here. Betty 
married Lee Williams. She runs a Beauty 
Parlor here. They have one son, and three 
daughters. The oldest daughter and the 
son are married. Carrie Parrish, since 
Sherm's death, has lived in a trailer on 
Western Avenue. Their former home was 
built on the site of the Tile Yard. 

Mrs. Roy Parrish (Ollie) also lives on 
Western. Roy is deceased. They had one 
son, Len, who is in the plumbing business. 
He married Wilma Webb. They have three 
sons and one daughter. The daughter and 
one of the sons are married. 

There have been several families named 
Webb in DeLand. Wilson Webb and his 
wife , Cecile, came here around 1906 or 07. 
They had a family of several boys and two 
girls. The girls were Wilma and Margaret. 
The sons were Clarence, Wayne, Rex. 
Clarence married Martha Marvel. They 
had two daughters. Clarence is deceased 
and Martha lives in Clinton. They had a 
dairy farm in Wisconsm for several years. 
Doris Ann and Linda were born here. 
Wayne, who was blinded when in the ar- 
my, is a very efficient mechanic at 
DeLand Motors. His wife Ruby, was a 
daughter of George Crisman. They have 
four children — Joe of Bement, Cynthia, 
deceased, Terry, and Debbie at home. 

Another Webb family was Ted Webb's 
family. He was a custodian at the DeLand 
grade school for many years. Mrs. Webb 
died before her children were grown. They 
were Cecil, Truman and Bill Ted who are 
away from here; Mary Lou Norton and 
Eloise who first married a man named 
Mitchell and then a man named Jones. 
She has four children by Mitchell, 

The third Webb family was that of Oliver 
Webb, father of Clarence ( not the Clarence 
above). Gene and Cloyd. Mrs. Clarence 
Webb died recently. There was a large 
family of children. I believe Janel Duncan 
is the only one living here. 

B. W. Swantstrom and his wife, Daisy, 
have lived here for sometime now, living 
in the house that Mart Miller built. Mr. 
Swanstrom and his son, Steve, have a 
Decoration Service at Monticello. Mrs. 
Swanstrom teaches at Monticello. She 
formerly taught at DeLand. One of their 
sons is a veterinarian. 

While F'earle Barnes is not now living 
here, I am sure she considers DeLand 
home. She still owns the property of her 
grandparents and comes back frequently. 

— 85 — 



There were three Barnes daughters and 
one son. Eva has been gone for sometime 
now. Pearle was a teacher and went back 
to that work after she left the postoffice 
here. Ruby also taught, and recently has 
been teaching in the Hammond, Indiana 
schools. She has several children. Reber, 
the son, lives in Michigan. Their parents 
were the J. O. Barnes who lived southwest 
of DeLand on a farm. When they retired, 
they lived in the house where her parents, 
Mr. and Mrs. John Frizzell lived. Mr. 
Frizzel was reared in Ohio. He began 
when he was fifteen to learn the tanner's 
trade. He was a Civil War veteran. He 
was captured and was in Andersonville 
prison for several months. He came to 
Charleston, 111. in 1866 and married Mary 
L. Frizzell. He later came to DeLand 
where he farmed. 

The Grant family came to DeLand in the 
19:50's. Mr. Grant is a carpenter. They 
have several boys — William, Dean, Larry 
and Jack — and a daughter, Alma Jean. 
Bill lives in DeLand and Dean between 
here and Monticello. Jack and Larry live 
in Monticello. Mrs. Grant was Alma Dye. 
Dean Grant married Wilma Robinson and 
they have two children. Bill Grant and his 
wife, Betty, have three sons. 

There are three Manning families - the 
sons of Chas. Manning who lived southeast 
of DeLand. They are Paul, Ross and Carl. 
Paul has one daughter, Mrs. Bill Carr. 
They have four children. Ross and his wife 
and two little girls live here in DeLand. 
Mrs. Manning, JoAnne, is an assistant 
cashier at the State Bank. Both Ross and 
Paul are interested in horses and their 
training. Both help to manage the Horse 
Show on Homecoming. Carl married an 
English woman while in England during 
WWII. They have a large family, some of 
them grown up and married. As nearly as 
I can remember, the children are 
Kathleen, Dick, Mary, Linda, Caria, 
Jimmy, Randy, Rhonda, Terry, Danny, 
Bobby, Marty, David and Elizabeth. 

The Manning's sister, Annabelle, is the 
wife of D. O. Fisher. They have three sons 
— Ronald, Norman and Mark. Ronald 
lives here, is married and has two 
children. Mark is just out of school. D. O. 
is the Fisher who runs the cob business. 
Warren Fisher, his brother, and wife Fern, 
are the editors along with the son, Ed- 
ward, who also works in Clinton. 
Edward married Shirley Welch and has 
two children, Allen and Kim. The 
daughter Charylcne married John Taylor. 
She helps with the newspaper. 

Gus Maria married Agnes West and had 
several children most of whom are gone 
from DeLand. They include: Hammond, 
Mary Colvin, and others. After Agnes 
died, Gus married Mrs. Smith. She has 
several children. All are grown. One 
daughter, Mrs. Apperson lives here. 
Agnes Maria was the daughter of Elmer 
West and Lona Eubanks. Mr. West and his 
brother, John, were plasterers and con- 
crete workers here for a long time. John 



West was killed in the explosion of 
dynamite he was carrying in his car when 
crossing Camp Creek bridge. 

The Eubanks family lived here in the 
early 1900's. Mr. Eubanks ran a livery 
stable just back of the library. The family 
moved to Iowa. There were some boys — 
one named John, and two other girls — 
Frances and Ada. Frances married a 
Summers and lives in Monticello. Ada 
lives in Iowa. 

Vestal Gaines and his wife, Anette, have 
two children, a son, Stephen, and a 
daughter. Norma. The daughter is 
married. 

Louis Kallembach Sr. ran a blacksmith 
shop. His first wife was Nanny White. She 
is Louis Jr.'s mother. He married second, 
Monselle Hoover. She is the mother of the 
Vaughn children, Barbara and Robert. 

There was a large Cooper family living 
in DeLand at one time but so far as I know, 
only Hollie and Jean live here now. Hollie 
married Cletus Dalton — a carpenter and 
has three children — Eddie who is 
married, Freddie and Clay. Jean married 
Raymond Wykoff and had three sons. She 
has remarried. 

There are two Turpen families — 
William and Harold. William has four 
children; William who is married, 
Charles, Harold and Helen. Harold 
Turpen has two children — a boy and a 
girl. 

David and Shirley Teets live with her 
parents — William and Bess Fleming 
Trigg. The Teets' have two children — 
Tammy and David. 

Ron Hall and his wife Joyce have only 
lived here for a few years. They have 
three little boys. They live in the house 
formerly lived in by Mr. and Mrs. Carrol 
(Mr. Carrol was the manager of the 
Farmer's elevator.) 

Mrs. Richardson, wife of the late Jim 
Richardson, still lives in DeLand where 
they moved when they retired from the 
farm. Her son, Abner, lives with her. The 
other children live away from here. 





Mrs. Alva Reed 

are: Miss Gertie Swisher, Mrs. Ora 
Holforty, Mrs. Mary Huisinga, Mrs. Marie 
Gantz, and Mrs. Alva Reed. 

Mrs. Woods children all live elsewhere. 
Woodrow is at Farmer City. 

Mrs. May Rudisill — wife of Lawrence 
Rudisill, now lives in DeLand. Her 
daughter Betty who married Kenneth 
Parrish also lives here and I believe her 
son lives on the farm. 

Mrs. Newton Stotts who used to live 
north of town, lives in the Vittum house. 
None of her children live here. 

Wilbur Jones, carpenter, lives back of 
the library. He had three children by his 
first marriage and three by the second. 
The three younger children are still at 
home. 




Mrs. Charles Wood 

Mrs. Lettie Woods (Mrs. Charles) still 
lives here. She is one of six women in 
DeLand who is over ninety. The others 



Mr. W.A. Jones 

Melvin Vaughn and wife still live here. 
Their daughter, Beverly who married Roy 
Dean Carter lives here also. They have 
two children — both at home. 

Burford Hammitt, whose parents far- 
med north of DeLand lives in the Jim 
Gessford house. He is unmarried. His 
mother was an aunt of Winnie Leischncr. 

Roy Vaughn and his wife Naomi now live 

— 86 — 



on the hill. She was the former Naomi 
Butler of Anderson, Ind. 

Chas. Norton Jr.'s wife is Ruth An- 
derson. She is a daughter of Ellsworth 
Anderson who lived around here for many 
years. Anderson married Fannie Olivia 
Hubbell in 1896. Their children were Olive 
(Peck), Clara (Coay) Thomas, (married 
Irene Grubaugh), and Ruth. 

Nelda Olson, wife of Clark Olson is a 
resident of DeLand. She was Nelda Lamb 
of Bement. She came here as an English 
teacher in the early days of the Township 
High school and stayed to marry Clark 
Olson. They had one daughter, Mary, who 
married Ray Ahlrich, then a teacher in the 
grade school. They have two children; and 
live at Monticello where Ray teaches. Ray 
was a son of Clifford Ahlrich. Clifford's 
lather was John, and his grandfather was 
also John. The elder John had a number of 
children — Alec, Lena, Anna, Clarence, 
Ted, to name a few. Most of them are 
gone. None live here. 

John Olson came to Piatt county from 
Sweden but soon after moved and pur- 
chased "wild" land and made im- 
provements. The house which he built in 
1892 still stands south of DeLand. He 
married Nellie Poulson. Their children 
were Philip, Alma, Melvin, Anna, (a 
teacher I, Florence, (a teacher), and 
Clark, (farmer). 

There were two Harlow families in 
DeLand. Robert Harlow and his wife Ella 
who were the parents of Iva (Mrs. Ben 
Coffin of Champaign), Opal Penner, 
Everett, Virgil and Russell. Mrs. 
Harlow's sister married Bert Harlow. 
They lived here for a while and had several 
children. Mrs. Robert Harlow later 
married John Hayes who had lived here at 
DeLand. There were Hayes twin girls, by 
a former marriage — Lula and Lola. 

James H. Dresback and his brother 
Fred, both of Monticello, bought a grocery 
store here about 1909. It was half of the 
Vail building which burned in 1914, and 
Fred then built what is now the Riggs 
grocery. Jerky, as he was nicknamed, 
went back to Monticello during the first 
five years but later came back to DeLand, 
buying Fred out. He was married to 
Annabelle Stickel, a descendant of the 
Piatt for whom the county was named. 
The Dresback's had four children — 
Gladys, who married Augustus Gibson of 
New Jersey and who still lives there (Dr. 
Gibson is deceased) ; Robert, who married 
Margaret Doyle) and had one daughter 
(Robert and Margaret are both 
deceased); Richard, who was killed in 
France in the second World War — his 
wife, Maxine, who ran the store while Dick 
was in the army, now lives in New York 
City. She had a lovely voice and has had it 
trained since she went there; Howard, who 
married Clarice Cornell, lives in Florida. 
He was part owner of the Locker Plant 
when it was new and also the president of 
the Village Board. Clarice taught here. 
Annabelle lived here until a few years ago 



until she went to New Jersey to make her 
home. She died there. Fred's wife was 
Pearl Flannigan, a daughter of Mrs. A. A. 
Reed. 

There were two Bowsher families. The 
only one left around here is Harriet, wife of 
Cooper Bowsher who built the building 
that houses Smith's garage. She has been 
living recently, following the breaking of a 
bone, in the Americana Nursing Home in 
Champaign. Cooper was the son of Hiram 
Bowsher, a Civil War Veteran who came to 
Illinois in 1868. bought land in Goose Creek 
which he farmed until 1874, when he sold it 
and went into business with H. G. Gantz in 
the tile factory. He conducted it for three 
years. For awhile he operated a dairy. He 
retired in DeLand. Another son was Cecil 
who for a time was in business with his 
brother. Hiram's wife was Mary Porter. 
Besides the two boys there were several 
girls — Frona (Mrs. Walter Thomas), 
Mrs. Roy Dewees, Iva (Mrs. Harry 
Johnston), and Gertha. Cecil married 
Corda Miller. They had three sons. I 
believe the Bowshers and Corda are all 
deceased. 

The other Bowsher was Tone Bowsher. 
His children were Alzina, Jennie, Ruth, 
Alice, and George. I believe Alzina and 
Ruth are still living. Alzina married 
Howard Kahler who once lived here. 

Grace Paugh is the only person of that 
name now living in DeLand. In the early 
part of this century, her brother, H. T. 
Paugh owned a livery stable here. His 
wife was Emma Curran. He had five 
children — Fred of Bell, Calif., Florence 
Beamer of Monticello, Harold of Indiana, 
Willard of Wisconsin, and Helen (Mrs. 
Burnell Lewis) of Pesotum. His father. 
Smith Paugh and wife Maria with 
daughters Alice and Grace and their son, 
came here in 1907. Fay and wife stayed 
until after their daughter Margaret was 
born, then went to Galesburg. Fay later 
had a son, William. Alice taught school for 
a couple of years and then married John 
Wrench of White Heath. Their children 
are Mildred Gronemeier of Bloomington, 
Hubert of Normal. John Jr. of Lodge, and 
Roberta Tate of Gurnec, 111. Grace was a 
teacher and the Librarian at Carnegie 
Library. She is now retired. John Wrench 
is still living, but all of the others of that 
generation are deceased. 

J. Q. Carter of the lumber yard is 
deceased as is his wife and son Don. His 
daughter Elizabeth lives in Europe. 

Opal Bickel married Thomas O'Brien, 
son of Mr. and Mrs. George O'Brien who 
moved to DeLand from DeWitt county in 
1885. The next year, they moved to the 
Bondurant farm north of DeLand. There 
were seven children in this family — 
Harry, Bert, Gladys (Witson), Jes.se (of 
Woodstock), Mary (Hamilton), Tom and 
Guy. Jesse and Mary are still living. 
Mary's husband was also a resident of 
DeLand. The Hamiltons mother and a 
daughter frequently attend the 
Homecoming. The George O'Briens lived 



on the Bondurant farm for thirty years. 
During that time he was over-seer of 1100 
acres of Bondurant land in Goose Creek 
township. 15(K) acres in Kansas and 27(H) 
acres near Momence, 111. They retired in 
1916 to their little farm east of DeLand and 
lived there until their death. 

Samuel Goodman bought the lumber 
business in DeLand from Charles Dewees 
in 1896, following a line of work that he had 
been in before coming here. He married 
Marguerite Keighin. They had two 
children, Frank and Mabel. Both children 
are now retired and Mabel makes her 
home in Champaign where she went after 
finishing high school in DeLand. The 
Goodmans were members of the Methodist 
church, he being on the official board for 
several years. Mrs. Goodman was long 
remembered for her work in the Sunday 
School where she was superintendent of 
the primary children for a long time. Mr. 
Goodman was elected clerk of the first 
town board when the village was in- 
corporated in 1899. He died while his 
children were young and Mrs. Goodman 
reared them by renting rooms to traveling 
salesmen, and the Chatauqua people who 
came each summer. When Mabel was out 
of school she and her mother went to 
Champaign where Mabel took a business 
course. Mabel was transferred to other 
cities at various times until 1955 when Mrs. 
Goodman passed away at Dayton, Ohio. 
A High school teacher who was here for 
several years and had several winning 
basketball teams was Raymond Clapper. 
He was the son of a Methodist preacher 
who served the church here; Rev. 0. L. 
Clapper (deceased). Mrs. Clapper was 
Myrtle Smith who now resides at Evenglo 
Lodge at Pontiac, 111. They had three other 
children — Leroy, Maurine and Mervin. 
Raymond married Gertrude Bickenbach 
in Illiopolis. They had two children — 
Judith and Steve. After Raymond's death 
in 1951, Gertrude taught commercial 
subjects at Monticello High school. In 
1961, she was remarried to Robert Clap- 
per, a cousin of Raymond's. He has three 
boys. They live at Naperville, Illinois. 

Charles and Amelia Zybel Mix came to 
Monticello in 1862. They had bought land 
in Goose Creek township but didn't know 
where it was. They had landed in Quebec 
from Baden, Germany. At that time 
August Mix was two years old. He had a 
younger sister, Lizzie, who was one. After 
they located their farm, they built their 
house and other buildings. For awhile they 
spoke German, but when their children 
started to school, they had to begin 
speaking English. August Mix married 
Uuisa Koch in 1890. They had six children 
— Charles, Willie (died when young), 
Elmer, Lula, Frances, and Leta. August 
Mix was killed by a falling tree during a 
storm Charles married Elizabeth Boyd 
and had three children - Robert, Ralph 
and Helen. Leta married Dr. A.F. Fitz- 

-87 — 



Henry and had one son. Elmer and Velda 
Hunt had 9 children — Dean, Roger, 
Frances, Florence, Opal, Doris, Carol, 
Judith and Linda. A yearly occasion in 
this family was the ice cream supper 
Elmer held for Elmer's customers on the 
threshing run that he had. The Elmer 
Mix's moved from DeLand in 1941. 
Frances Mix married James Loney. They 
have two sons. Marlon and Doris Mix 
White have four children — Marcia, 
Karen, Lorrie and Michael. Marlon is 
road commissioner of Goose Creek. The 
other children of Elmer and Velda are 
married and have families but do not live 
here. Linda was killed in an automobile 
accident and Judith is the Mix daughter 
who has bravely made a life for herself 
although she had polio and is paralyzed 
and must spend much of her life in an iron 
lung. 

Charles Marvel married Edythe Swisher 
and had children — Walter, Zelda, Alice 
Lester, Arlene Totten and Martha Webb. 
Mrs. Marvel was the daughter of Daniel 
Swisher who married Sarah Ann Wilson 
and had three children. Miss Gertrude 
who is now in her nineties and lives on the 
home place west of DeLand, Edith and 
Anna. Mr. Swisher came from Penn- 
sylvania to DeLand in 1873. Mrs 
Swisher's father, Joseph Wilson, came to 
Goose Creek Township in 1877, buying land 
south of the village now occupied by a 
grandson. He married Lucinda Judy, had 
five children, three of whom stayed in this 
township. Those three were: Mrs. 
Swisher, Mrs. Belle Borton (Lorin's 
mother) and Jacob who never married. 
Mrs. Wilson and Jacob in her later years 
lived in the house now occupied by Zelda 
Marvel (local librarian). 

Mrs. L. L. Rudisill lives just south of the 
Library. She, her son and his children and 
her daughter, Betty Parrish, are the only 
descendants living here of Boman Rudisill 
and his wife, Lizzie Perkins Rudisill who 
lived for a long time on the place now 
occupied by Rex Webb. Mae moved to 
town after the death of her husband 
Lawrence and her son farms the farm 
north of town. Betty and Kenneth Parrish 
have one son. Kenneth is a custodian at 
the High School and Betty is a nurse at 
Kirby Hospital. 

There were several Perkins families in 
this area at the beginning of the century, 
none today that I know of. The parents 
lived cast of town but moved to DeLand 
when they retired. They had children — 
William, (father of Dorothy, Florence, 
Velma, Violet and Hazel), Mrs. Lou Esary 
(Sadie), who lived for many years west of 
the Tribune building, Mrs. Ada Rowland, 
Mrs. Rudisill. and I believe several others. 
One of the Ahlrich boys married a 
Perkins but I do not have the information 
about that family. 

John Ahlrich lived south of town. He had 
a large family, including John, Alec, Ida, 
Clarence, and Ted. There were others. 
Mr. Ahlrich had one of the early 
automobiles. It was white in color and 



every one knew it-but then in those days 
everyone knew every car! 

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Wrench are former 
DeLand and Piatt county teachers. They 
stayed here after Frank retired from 
teaching and finished his work as county 
Superintendant. 

Naomi Wisegarver, wife of Carter, is the 
only Wisegarver left in Goose Creek 
township. Carter was the son of Smith 
Wisegarver and a grandson of George 
Wisegarver. Wisegarver came to Nixon 
township in DeWitt county about 1853. 
While he lived in DeWitt county (prac- 
tically on the line between it ana Piatt 
county) he had land in Goose Creek 
township and his church and school af- 
filiations were at DeLand. He had sons 
Wayne, Carter, George and Stanley and 
daughters Pauline and Cleo. Only Stanley 
and Cleo are now living. Wayne married 
Kitty Turley. They had four daughters. 
Carter and Naomi (Bailey) had three sons 
— Gene and Robert and Edwin, and two 
daughters — Virginia and Mary Ellen. 
Robert and Alta Mae Rex had sons Roger 
and Wayne, and a daughter Sheila. 

Mrs. Belle Timmons, wife of Gurney 
Timmons, formerly of Lodge still lives in 
DeLand. Mr. Timmons was the father of 
Ray Timmons who married Mary Tren- 
chard. Eay and Mary's son George farms 
east of DeLand. Mrs. Belle Timmons had 
three children by her first husband, Walter 
Dillavou, who formerly lived at DeLand. 
They are a son, Carlyle and two daughters, 
Nola who married Adolph Headley and 
Julia Pearl who married Lyle Meyers. 
The Meyers live in Colorado. 

Lynn Shull and his wife who is employed 
at the lumber yard live on Western Ave. 
His mother who married Clyde Parrish 
lives on East 3rd. Also on Western Ave. 
are Mr. and Mrs. Ervin Edwards, retired 
elevator manager. Next door to the Ed- 
wards are the Mendenhall family. Mrs. 
Mendenhall is the former Shirley Lane, 
daughter of the George Lane's who was 
reared in this community. On Illinois Ave. 
is the George Kuder family. Mr. Kuder is 
a carpenter. Mr. and Mrs. Webster 
Plympton live on Western, also. Lloyd 
Crichton is the new manager at the 
elevator. He has several children. Grace 
Maden who was a Hoover and a sister of 
Monselle Kallembach lives on the hill. Her 
husband, Jim Maden (deceased) was 
reared in DeLand. She has several 
married children. Also living on the hill is 
Mr. and Mrs. Beecher Pittman. Mrs. 
Pittman is a beauty operator. Earl Taylor 
and his brother Gerald both live in 
DeLand. Earl has a large family of boys 
and girls. Jerry married Janice Weddle. 
They also have several children. 

The Charles Thompson's on East Third 
have a number of grown children away 
from here who visit their parents and call 
them frequently. The Thompson's are 
among the citizens over 80. 

There are several of long residents in the 
country. Lonnie Smith who married 



Imogene Martin. Their children are all 
grown. Don Marlott who lives next door to 
the old High School and has two little girls. 
The Hogans north of town. Mr. and Mrs. 
Halsey Thompson north of town. Two 
Conatsers families — John and his son 
Martin, Glen Smith and wife Grace with 
three boys. The Anthony Roy's and 
Herschel Murphy's also are long residents. 
Up on the Hill — the Jeffery's and just 
south of Hermann Meyers — teacher 
Lawrence Gregory, his wife Dorothy and 
four young ones live. I could go on and on 
for there are many new people in the 
village and in the rural areas. I have no 
information regarding them except their 
names in the telephone directory. But my 
space for this is filled. I am sure this will 
give the readers an idea of who lives in 
Goose Creek township and DeLand on this, 
its 100th birthday. 




J. N. Rodman 

Julious N. Rodman was one of DeLand's 
VIP's. He was reared in McLean county, 
coming to Goose Creek township in 1879. 
The family home was I'j miles east of 
DeLand. He later lived in DeLand. In 1902 
he was elected to the State Legislature. He 
married Clara Colvin. After her death, a 
nephew's wife, Lorena Rodman, kept 
house for him. She had four children who 
grew up here. In later years they lived at 
LaPorte, Indiana on a farm he owned 
there. As a boy, he met Abraham Lincoln. 

Scammon Rodman, brother of J. N. also 
lived here. Scammon Rodman was a civil 
war veteran. He married Emily Fleming 
and had a number of children, including 
Mabel Rodman Fuller, who was the first 
Librarian here. He built the first grain 
elevator in DeLand. The firm name was 
Moody and Rodman. 

There were two Conner families. One 
was the family of John Connor who ran the 
grocery that burned in 1914. His children 
were: Pearl, who married Fred Parrish 



88 



(both now deceased); Myrta, who is a 
retired teacher living at Forsythe; Etta 
(deceased); Emmett and Voris. 

John Conner's brother also lived here for 
sometime. He had a large family of 
children including: Charles, Gertrude, 
Vivian, Elva, Gladys, Floyd, Jual, Nadine, 
Robert, and Gene. Charles was the rural 
mail carrier here for a long time. Later he 
was transferred to Hammond. Today he is 
retired and lives at Cerro Gordo. He 
married Florence Hassinger and has one 
son, Wendell. After Florence's death he 
remarried. Gertrude married Wayne 
Churchill. They had three daughters — 
Lucretia, Virginia and Jean. Lucretia and 
Virginia both served in the army in W. W. 
II. Vivian married Virgil Carrier of 
DeLand (both deceased) and Floyd 
married Alice Churchill of DeLand (both 
deceased). The others married people 
away from here. Gertrude was the 
telephone operator here for a long time. 
Both Conner families moved away from 
here in the early twenties. 

Florence Conner's father, Sam 
Hassinger and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. 
Peter Hassinger were early residents of 
DeLand. Sam and Emma Hassinger had 
two other children — Frank and Frona. 
Frank married Wave Kesler. They had 
three children. Frank was fatally injured 
in an accident on the interurban when 
working for the ITS. Wave's sister, Lola, 
married Seymour Cathcart. They also had 
three children. Frona Hassinger married 
Harve Caylor. They had several children. 
They moved to Decatur where Frona died 
recently. Harve is also gone. 

The Long family came in the nineteen 
teens. There were four children. Cecile 
was a school teacher. She married Fred 
Dial. They live on a farm near Macon. 
The others were Paul, Ina and Vera. Vera 
died during the flu epidemic in 1918 and 
1919. 

Frona, who married Harve Caylor, has 
died recently. 

Frank Hassinger married Wave Kesler. 
They had three children — Darrell, Vivian 
and Fern. Wave's sister Lola Kesler, 
married Seymour Cathcart, who had a 
beautiful tenor voice. They also had three 
children — Phyllis, Marjorie and Robert. 

The Cathcarts were a pioneer family. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cathcart had a 
number of children, including Leon, 
Seymour, Irl, Lyle and William. Irl 
married Bess Mansfield and remained in 
DeLand. They had two daughters — 
Elizabeth and Carol. The older Cathcarts 
are all deceased as is Carol. 

The Swartz family have been long 
residents of this community. Mac Swartz 
married Gertrude Reed. They farmed 
southwest of DeLand for many years. 
Their daughter Bernice Crawley lives in 
Florida Lyle lives in Farmer City and 
Lorin, who was killed in an auto accident 
several years ago farmed the Swartz 
farm. His son Jack now farms it. His and 
Era (Wilson's) other children were Bevery 



(deceased)., Patsy Clifton, Max and Jill. 
Era lives in DeLand. 

The Fishers, who print the Tribune, are 
Warren and his wife Fern, their son Ed- 
ward (wife Shirley), and Charylene and 
husband John Taylor. Edward Fishers 
have two children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Vaughn are also 
lifetime residents. Mrs. Vaughn was 
Naomi Butler of Anderson, Indiana. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Liestman were 
pioneersof this community. Mr. Liestman 
was a photographer and had a shop here 
for a long time. Their children were Grace 
Fennerty, now of Florida, Lula Doss 
(deceased), William (deceased), Cicel and 
Harold both of whom live in Michigan. 

Louis Kallembach, Jr. who is part owner 
of the DeLand Locker plant, and his wife, 
Frances, have three children of school 
age. They lost a son recently. Louis is the 
chairman of the Centennial Board. His 
hobby is painting. Mrs. Kallembach is a 
teacher in this school district. 



EVENTS OF IMPORTANCE 

Two events of importance so far in 1973. 
The garage on the hill known as Joe's 
Service and Garage burned to the ground 
early in January. The fire was discovered 
by a member of Joe's family in a nearby 
house when he heard a noise at the garage. 
Looking out, he saw flames coming from 
the garage and by the time the alarm was 
given and help arrived, there could be 
nothing done to save the building. They 
concentrated their efforts on saving 
nearby buildings. A small building once 
used as a restaurant but now used for 
storage was also destroyed. 

The second event was the arrival of a 100 
car train which was loaded with corn from 
the elevator. When it pulled out, it had 
350,000 bushels of corn bound for Louisiana 
where it will be transferred to ships for 
export. There have been two more such 
trains in January and February. And a 
fourth is scheduled to arrive the middle of 
March. By that time, the elevator will 
have shipped approximately 1,400,000 
bushels of corn from this area. Needless to 
say, the railroad area was a mighty busy 
place on those days. It took a number of 
workers and they had sightseers who were 
interested. There are three pictures in this 
book that show the loading and the train. 





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Kill cnr train that has been taking corn nut 
of Del, and for export. 



Someone asked recently where we got 
the saying "DeLand, Biggest Little Town 
on Earth." When the town had the Booster 
Club about 1916, someone suggested that it 
should have a slogan. It is believed that 
George Trigg came up with this slogan. 
For a long time, he used it in his furniture 
store advertisements which appeared 
every week in the Tribune. There were 
also envelopes printed for some of the 
firms that had the slogan printed across 
the back. 



lH7:!-DeLand Centennial Celebration-!!)?:! 

DeLand was surveyed on the 23rd and 
25th days of April in 1873 and the 20th and 
21st days of May, 1873. 

In 1973, one hundred years later, DeLand 
will celebrate its 100th birthday. The 
KICKOFF for the celebration will take 
place on May 20th which is on a Sunday. 
On that afternoon, there will be a Band 
Concert and refreshments of ice cream and 
cake. There may be other numbers on the 
program. The picture collection which has 
been compiled over a number of years will 
be on display at the Library. This 
collection of over three hundred pictures 
will give the newcomers an idea of what 
DeLand was like before all the big fires. 
And they will furnish homecoming folks 
with plenty of nostalgia. The collection 
was made by Grace Paugh when she was 
Librarian, is to belong to the community 
and cared for by the Library. And if you 
graduated from Goose Creek Township 
High School, you will be able to view your 
smiling face as it was then When the 

- 89 



grade school was moved to the township 
building, all the pictures in the lower hall 
were taken down for re-decorating and not 
replaced. The Library Board rescued 
them so they would not be lost and gave 
them room. 

This book will also be distributed on that 
day. 

The Homecoming Board-DeLand En- 
tertainments, Inc. -is in charge of the 
celebration. Added to it for this year are 
representatives of various organizations. 
Tljere has already been several meetings. 
Everyone is enthusiastic and is busily at 
work. 

The Board this year is made up of 
Chairman, Louis Kallembach, Jr.; Vice- 
chairman, Edward Fisher; Treasurer, 
Edwin Reed; Secretary, George Edwards; 
and members, Lloyii Crichton, Wilbur 
Trimble, Ron Hall, D. O. Fisher, Ron 
Fisher, Roy Mullvain and Kenneth 
Parrish. 

The following people are chairmen of the 
various committees: Centennial Book, 
Grace Paugh; Advertising, D. O. Fisher; 
Beards and Town Cop, Bill Carr; Parade, 
Edwin Reed and George Loney; Tickets, 
Cecil demons; Publicity, Richard Loney; 
Concessions and flea market, Ron Hall; 
Entertainment, JackSwartz; Horse Show, 
Ross Manning; Antiques, Senior Woman's 
Club; Pageant, Grace Mullvain; 
Souvenirs, Evening Woman's Club; 
Children's games, Wendell Clifton. 

Various Centennial Events are expected 
to occur during the summer but are not 
planned as yet. On the last two Sundays in 
August (Aug. 19th and 26th), members of 
the Senior Woman's Club will have Open 
House in ten different homes where there 
are a number of antiques. They will be 
open from 2 to 5 p.m. The Homes are those 
of Warren Fisher, Loren Borton, Karl 
Borton, George Timmons, Lindell 
Huisinga, Wendell Trenchard, William 
Gantz, B. W. Swanstrom, Bradford 
Knisely, and Louis Kallembach Jr. 

The final events will take place on 
August 31st, September 1st (the regular 
Homecoming Day) and possible there will 
be some celebration on Sunday. We know 
of one class who plans a reunion. 
Children's games are planned for after 
school on Friday Evening. An evening 
program will include several events — the 
beard judging, an old time style show, a 
square dance, etc. The parade will start at 
10 o'clock Saturday morning. It is hoped 
that there will be enough entries to make it 
a two hour parade. The Horse show and 
some entertainment in the park will be 
Saturday afternoon. The Pageant will be 
Saturday night followed by a Teen-age 
dance. Late in 1972, the Board sponsored a 
"Centennial Emblem" contest which was 
won by Mark F'isher, son of D. O. Fisher. 
It will be used on souvenirs and in other 
ways. 

There have been some Centennial Rules 
passed that we suggest you read if you are 




Iloinecoming board — l!>7:!. 





1973 Homecoming Board and Committees 



a DeLand Citizen and ponder a bit. 
Otherwise you might find yourself in a dire 
predicament. The rules apply to everyone 
over 18 years of age who has a DeLand 
address, phone number or who lives in the 
DeLand fire district or operates a business 
in DeLand. 

Starting May 20th, and each weekend 
until August 18th, the ladies must wear a 
long dress covering her ankles and a 
Centennial Belle Button which can be 
purchased at the Centennial Store. If the 
lady finds it inconvenient to dress thus, she 
can avoid arrest by purchasing a "High 
Hemline" button. From August 18th on, 
and continuing through September 1st 
(yes, even to Church and the grocery store 
or wherever she goes outside her home) 
she must wear her long dress and her 
Centennial button or risk being hauled off 
to jail. 

Starting May 20th, the men must wear a 
Centennial String tie, a Brother of the 
Brush button and must have started a 
beard or Mustache or have bought a 
shaving permit. Beware, fellows! The cop 
will get you if you don't watch out! The 
worst about being thrown into jail is, you 
can't bail yourself out, nor will your 
relatives be able to help you! So if you 
plan to break the law, be sure you have 
plenty of good friends around. 



There are plans to have a clean up in the 
spring. Remember the enthusiasm we use 
to have at that time'' A few people have 
already started to follow the old slogan 
"Clean up! Paint up! " The Library Board 
has already re-decorated the Library and 
you will find it a lovely place — just as 
attractive as you remembered it from 
when you went there on Wednesday nights 
to meet friends and study. 

Everyone is looking forward to having 
some three months of fun this summer. 
Come! Join us! 



IT HAPPENED IN DELAND 

The following article appeared in the 
DeLand Tribune in November of 1954. It 
was written by Grace Mullvain who was 
then fairly new to our community. 

"Today, the DeLand Tribune arrived. 
Since our men folks were away, I sat down 
like many others and read it from front to 
back. When I had finished I sat for a 
moment thinking what a busy community 
our DeLand really is, and how many things 
we have to offer our home folks. 

Perhaps the paper contained more news, 
maybe more editorials than usual. 



90 



Papers, I'm sure, like everything else, 
have better weeks than others. I suppose 
the news, where we have been, and who 
went, is read first by many, but just take 
stock for an instant of what takes place in 
our little town in one week. 

Our women's clubs looking for clean 
comic books for our boys and girls, and 
studying the Health problems of our 
community and working with the Legion 
and Auxiliary in sending Christmas boxes 
to our boys overseas. Grace Paugh 
working hard cleaning shelves free of 
books, so that little girls, big girls, and 
boys could visit a doll collection and ad- 
mire the beautiful little ladies, each 
representing a character of real life or 
story book fame. 

Clyde Foster with his sports notes. I 
read them even though I'm not an ardent 
fan. Mr. Heberer with his "For what its 
worth." I know some men are really 
enjoying it, some, I'm sure have told him. 
Mrs. Laugher, the new Home Ec. Teacher 
and her adult education classes just ready 
to start. 

Churches, yes, many for a small com- 
munity, all busy having suppers, dinners, 
bake sales. Christian Youth Hour, 
Methodist Youth Fellowship, choir 
practice, regular worship services, busy 
ministers trying to make it a happy 
Christian community. 

School-grade, junior and senior high 
with regular classes along with the plays, 
the bands, the ball games. Last week, Pat 
Goodman entered an editorial on "What is 
the Price of Liberty?" She says, "we can 
never fully repay the Great Builders of 
our Nation. A Junior High school, I 
believe, made me think how we must 
continually work to build better com- 
munities, wonder if we are doing our part 
as adults, as parents. Read it. It's a prize 
winner! 

All these things along with the showers, 
the marriages and the deaths are a part of 
our small town paper. In a small com- 
munity, "everyone shares our joys, 
everyone shares our woes, makes one 
really aware at the eve of the 
Thanksgiving season, how much we have 
to be thankful for. May we all remember 
to be grateful for our blessings in 1954." 

And that, friends is a small town! I am 
reminded of a verse in the front of a book 
that use to be in the Library. 

"Though people in the city are inclined 
to run it down 

Life is not monotonous in a little town. 
You may not see so much, my dears, 
But wheel the things one hears!" 

Life may sometimes be monotonous in 

the "Biggest Little Town on Earth", but 

we have much to be thankful for on this 

Centennial birthday, and much to be proud 

of. 

Grace 




(oiiiiiiiiiiily picnic scen(> about l!)17. 




('onimuiiity picnic scene about 1!M7 





Community picnic scene about 1917 



Homecoming scene — 1957 



— 91 




1st and only Tri-wheeler. 




Kicvclists 



I 




UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISURBANA 

977367P2eB C001 

BIGGEST LITTLE TOWN ON EARTH DELANO 



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