Fox Lake Historical Society March 19 Meeting-- Part 3: About the Russell Tavern Fire and the 1959 American Legion Team

**  In 1959 the Fox Lake, Illinois American Legion team were champions of the Northern Division and went downstate where they placed third in state.  Paul Lewis, for whom the baseball field at Fox  Lake's Grant Township High School was named was coach.

**  The historical society has put together an interesting book on past gas stations in the Fox Lake area.

**  Ruth Sutton died in February.  She was a charter member of the association and president for four years..  In addition, she was the Fox Lake correspondent in the Lakeland News papers group.

RUSSELL TAVERN FIRE

It was by what is today the Black Forest Bakery.  The restaurant was about to open as the 4 Eagles which was to be a Wisconsin-style super club.

Located on Route 12 (US-12) across from the current BP station next to the old Lupo's which is where part of the Ray Chevrolet used car lot is today.

--Cooter

National Vietnam War Veterans Day Today

From Wikipedia.

This is a U.S. holiday observed annually on March 29.  It recognizes veterans who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

March 29 was chosen as the day to commemorate it because March 29, 1973, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was disbanded on this day and the last U.S.  combat troops departed the Republic of Vietnam.

Fox Lake Historical Society, March 19, 2022: Puppet Bar Ghosts?

Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society, Fox Lake, Illinois.

Working on the website and information being updated.

There used to be 56 or 57 bars in Fox Lake.  It was, after all, a resort town.

**  The society has more Grant Township yearbooks than it needs and will sale extra copies to persons contacting us.  I think the price would be $20.

**  Of course, these last two years have been very difficult in both membership and finances.

**  A paranormal guy came by and said the Eagle Point puppets had a lot of energy emanating from them.

**  They're looking for docents to come in and  watch the place and help visitors on every other Sunday afternoon, but, I'm wondering, what if you're sitting there by yourself with "ghosts" around.  

**  There used to be a bowling alley next door to the museum and it had eight lanes and there used to be a gas station on the other side of it.

--Cooter

Fox Lake Historical Society Meeting March 19

The Fox Lake-Grant Township Area Historical Society had their March meeting at the museum in Ingleside, Illinois, on March 19, convening at 9:30 am.

There was no meeting in January because of COVID restrictions.  

The last meeting was November 20, 2021.

**  The Roxanne Resort on Fox Lake was bought by an investment group who donated a scanner to the society.

**  Eagle Point on Pistakee Lake is gathering information on its history and plan to make a book about it and donate it to our library.  I especially like this idea because I used to deejay a whole lot at Eagle Point Park (The Puppet Bar).  Spent many a Saturday night there.

**  The deck in the back of the building was finished.

**  Docents are needed to be at the museum on the days it is open.

**  New (well, old) officers were nominated and accepted.  Congratulations President Nancy Kubalanza, Treasurer Jackie Volkmor and Trustee Pete Jakstas.

--Cooter

Five Pop Culture Trends That Helped Shape the 1980s

From the February 25, 2022, History  "Five pop culture trends that helped shape the 1980s" by Lesley Kennedy.

A mighty interesting list.  Hey, I remember those.  For more information (and pictures) go to the site.

1.  Women's Power Dressing:  

Shoulder pads, oversized double-breasted suits.

2.  Food + Fun = Entertainment:

Chuck E. Cheese, Show Biz Pizza, Medieval Times

3.  Music Goes Visual:

MTV, of course.  Would I have ever liked to have had this growing up.  Wow!!

4.  The Mall Food Court Had Its Heyday:

Hey, go eat while shopping.  Remember Orange Julius,  Sbarro, Panda Express and Auntie Anne's?

5.  Toy Crazes Spark Frenzies:

Three words:  Cabbage Patch Kids.  Also Rubik's Cube and Teddy Ruxpin.

I never ever was able to do that stupid cube!!

Hey, do you remember the very first song played on MTV?  (Answer below)

--CooterPatch

"Video Killed the Radio Star"

What's in a Groundhog Name?

From the McHenry County 2022 Visitors Guide.

We had Groundhog Day early last month.  The famous movie "Groundhog Day" was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois, which is in McHenry County.  (County Seat)

The groundhog is an animal of many names.  Here are some:

woodchuck

wood-shock

groundpig

whistlepig

thickwood badger

Canada marmot

monax

red monk

land beaver

siffleux  (if you're French-Canadian)

How Much Wood Can a Woodchuck Chuck?  --CootHog

Forty Things From the 70s You Won't Probably Find in Today's Homes-- Part 4: 8-Tracks

31.  8-Tracks*  I have about ten of them. I never got into them.  I still have and record using their forerunners, the audio cassette.  I also still have one 8-track tape player.)

32.  Textured walls

33.  Vinyl tablecloths 

34.  Slides  (hey, vacation)  For that matter a slide projector.*

35.  Rec rooms*

36.  Concrete patios*

37.  Pendant lights  (gigantic globes)

38.  Fondue pots

39.  Massive coffee makers

40  Super 8s  (to record those family activities in case you're wondering)  Well, we have a couple camcorders.)

Reckon We're Still Somewhat Stuck in the 70s.  (Oh well, we don't spend all day looking at our "smart Phones."  --Cooter

Forty Things from the 1970s You Probably Won't Find in Today's Homes-- Part 3: Oh That Typewriter

21.  Radios*   I also have a bunch of boom boxes with radios.

22.  Funky lights  (colored lights)   Do Christmas lights I leave up in the bar year round count?

23.  Pod chairs  (ball or egg chairs)

24.  Popular pottery*  (Some of our lamps are pottery)

25.  Chrome finishes

26.  Typewriters*   Even though I haven't seen it in years, I know we have an electric one somewhere.)

27.  Pyrex dishes   (with color)

28.  Record players   (Hey, we still have three of them.

29.  Dark tones  (red, gold & avacado)  Our first home had an orange countertop in the kitchen.

30.  Exposed brick

Stuck in the 70s.  --Cooter

Forty Things from the 70s That You Probably Won't Find in Homes Today-- Part 2: Stereo Systems

*  means we have it now.

11.  Sunken living rooms

12.  Floating stairs (like the Brady Bunch)

13.  TV dinners

14.  Rattan furniture  (that tropical look)

15.  Floral sofas

16.  Push button phones*

17.  Stereo systems*  (I have four of them)

18.  Macrame everything*    (Tying cords into knots)  In second thought, I do have one plant hanging from the ceiling on one of these in the sunroom.

19.  Colonial furniture  (Bicentennial)

20.  Fringe elements (fringes hanging down)  (I lost my Davy Crockett jacket years ago.)

Love Those Old Stereo Systems.  --RoadStereo

Forty Things Every 70s House Had That No One Has Today-- Part 1: Shag Carpeting

From March 15, 2022,  MSN "40 things that every house in the 70s had that no one sees today" by Jill Gleeson.

I just had to see what we still have.  Quite a few of them evidently.  *  Means we "Got" It somewhere.

1.  Linoleum floors*

2.  Bean bag chairs  (I could hardly get out of them back them.  I really couldn't even think about getting out of one now.)

3.  Wood paneling*

4.  Crocheted blankets

5.  Lava lamps*

6.  Shag carpeting

7.  Huge TVs (as in ones to heavy to hang from a wall)*

8.  Statement stone fireplaces  (made of rough stone)*

9.  Alarm clocks*

10.  Patterned paper

It's A Start.  --CootStuckOld

Charles Willson Peale-- Part 3: Not That Painting, That Museum

And, by the way, that painting of Washington which Dolley Madison supposedly saved from the White House was not by Charles Willson Peale.  It was by Gilbert Stuart.  Just in case you're wondering.

**************************

Peale was quite the Renaissance Man as he knew a lot about a lot of things.  He not only had expertise in painting, but also many other fields like carpentry, dentistry,  optometry, shoemaking and taxidermy.  Around 1804, he obtained  the American patent  rights to the polygraph (creates a copy of writing) from its inventor John Isaac Hawkins.

**************************

The Peale Museum

He also had a great interest in natural history and organized the first U.S. scientific expedition in 1801.  That led to his founding of  what became the Philadelphia Museum, later known as  Peale's American Museum.  After his death, his museum failed and was sold to showmen P.T. Barnum and Moses Kimball.

**************************

Peale had ten children, most of them named after his favorite artists.  Three of them became noted artists:  Rembrandt Peale,  Raphaelle Peale and Titian Ramsay Peale.

--CootPeale

Charles Willson Peale-- Part 2: A Prolific Painter

His estate is now part of the campus of LaSalle University in Philadelphia.  It can still be visited.

Peale also raised troops for the American Revolution and eventually became a captain in the Pennsylvania militia in 1776 and participated in several battles.  While in the field, he continued to paint. doing  miniatures of American officers.  After the war, he made many into larger paintings.

From 1779 to 1780 he was in the Pennsylvania state assembly, after which he returned to painting full time.

Peale was quite prolific as an artist and did portraits of scores  of historic  figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton to name a few.

He is probably best known for his portraits of George Washington.  The first time Washington sat for his portrait with Peale was 1772 and they had six other sittings.  Using these  seven as models, Peale produced altogether close to sixty portraits of Washington.  In January 2005, a full-length portrait of Washington at Princeton from 1779 sold for $21.3 million, setting a  record for the highest price ever paid for an American portrait.

--Cooter

Charles Willson Peale-- Part 1: The Painter of the Revolution

Yes, his middle name is actually spelled Willson with two "Ls".

From Wikipedia.

Since I was writing about the portrait this man painted of George Washington at the Battle of Princeton, I figured I's find out some more about him.  I don't remember ever knowing anything about him.  Now, I do.

(April 15, 1741- February 22, 1827)

American painter, soldier,  scientist, inventor, politician and naturalist.  A real Renaissance Man.  He is best remembered for his portrait paintings of leading figures of the American Revolution and establishing one of the first museums in the United States.

After forays into saddle making, clocks and metal working, he found his niche in painting.  After joining the Sons of Liberty, he became enamored with the new country that was being established on Philadelphia and moved there where he painted many of the famous people leading the effort, including, of course, George Washington.

--Cooter

Other Facts About the Battle of Princeton

From the Mt. Vernon Organization.

**  WEATHER:  21 degrees at 8 am  "Fair & Frosty."    Some reported "shin deep snow" on the Clarke Farm battlefield.

**  STRENGTHS:    American - 4,500 est. with 35 artillery pieces.  British - 1,200 est. with  6 to 9 artillery pieces.

**  CASUALTIES:  Exact numbers are not known and estimates vary.  Fischer reports 232 killed and wounded for the British with maybe another  200 to 300 captured.  American losses were likely 31-37 killed, upwards of  37 wounded and 1 captured.

**  At the time of the battle, Princeton University was known as the College of New Jersey.  The name was changed to Princeton in 1896.

**  The Continental Congress convened in Nassau Hall from June 30, 1783, to November 4, 1783.  Congress moved here from Philadelphia to avoid risk from mutinous Continental  Army officers in and near Philadelphia.

--Cooter

Ten Facts About Battle of Princeton-- Part 9

In the original painting, which is now a part of the Pennsylvania  Academy of Fine Arts collection, Washington leans on the barrel of a captured cannon while   Hessian and British flags  lie at his feet.

Washington is in his blue and buff uniform with commander's sash looks confidently at the viewer while in the background you can see Nassau  Hall, the final scene of the battle.

From Wikipedia.

Charles Willson Peale made eight copies of the painting.  It was completed in early 1779 when Washington sat for Peale in Philadelphia.

In January 2005, the painting sold for $21.3 million, setting a record for highest price paid for an American  portrait.

--Brock-Perry

Ten Facts About Battle of Princeton-- Part 8: The George Washington at Princeton Painting

10.  THE GEORGE WASHINGTON AT PRINCETON  PAINTING WAS WILDLY POPULAR AFTER ITS DEBUT

The news of George Washington's victory at Princeton electrified the country and doing his painting became the desire of leading artists of the day.

George Willson Peale, Washington's most frequent portraitist and a Continental Army veteran who was at Princeton, finished his George Washington at Princeton painting in early 1779.  The painting had been commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania for its council chambers at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

After its debut, there was a great clamor for replicas.  It is estimated that Peale created 18 or more different replicas of the painting for clients such as the Spanish Court, the island of Cuba and King Louis XVI.  Today, replicas can be found at  Princeton University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Colonial Williamsburg,  the Museum of Virginia Fine Arts, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the U.S. Senate.

Each of these  copies employs different-sized  canvases, updated uniforms, varied backgrounds and other modifications.

--CootPeale

Ten Facts About Battle of Princeton-- Part 7: Victory Saved Patriot Cause

9.  THE VICTORY AT PRINCETON RESCUED THE PATRIOT CAUSE FROM ONE OF ITS DARKEST HOURS

The disastrous defeats in the 1776 New York Campaign and retreat across the Delaware River had left prospects for American independence in tatters.  Rather than retreat into winter quarters as everyone was expecting, Washington chose to attack.

His victories at Trenton, the Assunpink Creek and Princeton completely reversed the fortunes of the Continental Army and the prospects of the young United States.

Many look at the battles of Trenton and Princeton as small affairs, but these battles, combined with the tough winter campaigning sliced Lord Howe's once mighty army in half.  Howe's further requests for reinforcements left many in London aghast.

Washington's bold maneuvers and gambles as well as effective leadership had delivered the very sort of public  confidence that Washington was keen to produce.  Not only were the British and Loyalists discouraged, but his own soldiers found newfound  confidence that they could beat the very best that the British could put onto the field.'

--Cooter

Ten Facts About Battle of Princeton-- Part 6: The Final Actions Took Part on the Campus of Princeton

8.  THE FINAL ACTIONS TOOK PART ON THE CAMPUS OF PRINCETON

After the Americans were victorious at the Clarke Farm segment of the battle, fighting shifted toward the town of Princeton itself.  Roughly 200 British Regulars had fortified Nassau Hall at the center of Princeton University today.  They intended to hold the Americans off from there until a relief party arrived.

The Americans positioned cannons around the building and opened fire.  Legend has it that one American cannonball decapitated a portrait of King George II hanging inside.

Nassau Hall still stands on Princeton's campus and damage from the Americans can still be seen on the outside of it.  As for that :damaged" portrait of King George II?  The original was destroyed, but a different  painting of the king now hangs opposite  Peale's portrait of George Washington at the Battle of Princeton.

--Cooter

Ten Facts About the Battle of Princeton-- Part 5: Marines Fought Alongside Washington

Maybe I'll finish these ten facts sometime in the future.  Continued from February 17.

7.  MARINES FOUGHT ALONGSIDE  WASHINGTON AT THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON

Washington sent out a desperate plea for reinforcement.  One of the first groups to  respond to this request were  roughly  600 Marines from the Philadelphia area.  This force had been recruited to serve aboard Continental warships now anchored in Philadelphia and were generally considered to be excellent fighters.

Their officers had had duty against British ships and they had been occupied in daily drill and frequent skirmishes with the British forces operating in  the area.

Three companies of Marines accompanied Washington on his nighttime march to Princeton.  Moving with Cadwalader's Brigade into the fight, a few Marines under the command of  Major Samuel Nicholas, engaged Manhood's British troops  on the Clarke Farm.

(Major Samuel Nicholas was the first Marine Corps officer and, by tradition, considered the first commandant of the corps.)

During the fierce fighting, several Marines were killed, including Captain William Shippin.

These casualties were  some of the first to be  suffered by the Marine Corps on any battlefield.

--Cooter

Twelve More Revolution Cannons Found in Savannah River-- Part 3:

The HMS Rose was a brig that carried 160 men and twenty 9-pounder cannons.  Earlier, it had worked to control smuggling in Rhode Island and fought and patrolled waters off New York City and up the Hudson River.  Later, it switched operations to the south as the British were hoping they could get the support of many Loyalists there and the ship ended up in Savannah, Georgia, after the British captured it.

But with French ships closing in on the city, the Rose was scuttled on September  19, 1779, to block the Savannah River.

It is possible that the cannons also may have belonged to the  HMS Venus or HMS Savannah which were also scuttled.  The French did not capture the city and kept control of it until almost the war's end.  (I could not find any records on these two ships as British Navy ones, but likely were troopships.  I have seen a couple places where it was mentioned that ships by these names were sunk in the river.)

The cannons appear to date from about the mid 1700s, which would put them  closely aligned to the Rose's history.

The ones found last February were about five feet long.

An interesting story.

--DaCootRose

Twelve More American Revolution Cannons Found in the Savannah River-- Part 2: HMS Rose?

The river bottom of the Savannah River is strewn with all sorts of old stuff , ranging from Indian pottery to parts of a Confederate Civil War ironclad (the CSS Georgia) and other vessels lost dating back to Colonial times.  

When the first three cannons were found during dredging last February east of Savannah's famed River Street, archaeologists and the British Royal Navy  offered an intriguing possibility about their source.

Based on measurements and appearance, those cannons might have been from the British HMS Rose, a ship they scuttled during the American revolution in the Savannah River to block French ships from aiding the colonists who were attempting to retake the city.

But, now further investigation has the ship being sunk farther up the river and that it had had its cannons removed beforehand.

Farther research show that the cannons might have belonged to  British transport ships that were also sunk to block the river's channel.

Archaeologists are hoping further research will bring to light identifying elements of the cannons and matches to what the scuttled ships were carrying as weapons.

So, Whose Cannons?  --Cooter

March Events in American Revolution: Battle of Brier Creek, Boston Massacre, Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 'Give Me Liberty or ....'

From the American Battlefield Trust.

MARCH 3, 1779

**  Battle of Brier Creek, Georgia

MARCH 5, 1770

**  Boston Massacre

MARCH 15, 1781

**  Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.

MARCH 22, 1765

**  Stamp Act.  Tax on paper goods and legal documents.

MARCH 23, 1775

**  Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech, Richmond, Virginia.

MARCH 29, 1780

**  Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, begins.

--Cooter

March Events in American Revolution: Charleston, South Carolina

From the American Battlefield Trust March 2022  calendar.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

88 acres saved

Picture of Marion Square.

Home to a weekly farmers market and impromptu picnics, Charleston's Marion Square is also the setting for a Liberty Trail-sponsored archaeological study to document the footprint of the Horn Work.

This structure once stood tall as the defensive centerpiece for Continental commanders during the American Revolution.  It was where American generals Lincoln and Moultrie surrendered to the British after a six-week siege that began on March 29, 1780.

The trust and its partners, including the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust, have saved 88 Revolutionary acres around Charleston.

--Cooter

Twelve More American Revolution Cannons Found in Savannah River-- Part 1

From the February 9, 2022, WJCL ABC "Archaeologists discover a dozen Revolutionary War cannons in the Savannah River" by CNN.

This is a remarkable find that raises the question of what vessel had they been on before their trip to river bottom and, of course, why were they dropped.

The local district of the Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of deepening the river channel posted a video and photos about it.

Last month's raising of the rusty artifacts brings to the number of recovered cannons to fifteen, plus fragments of another one found over the last year in preparation for the river project.

"There is no telling what all is down there," says Corps district archaeologist  Andrea Farmer told CNN, saying, "so much of the river is unknown.

--Cooter

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 9: Bush to Biden

41.  GEORGE H.W. BUSH  (1989-1993)

While a student at Yale University, Bush was captain of the baseball team and a member of the Skull and Bones, an elite secret student society.

42.  BILL CLINTON  (1993-2001)

Clinton played the saxophone and famously on the Arsenio Hall show when he was a candidate for president.

43.  GEORGE W. BUSH (2001-2009)

Post-presidency,  he took up oil painting, exhibiting his work  at the Museum of Southwest Texas.

44.  BARACK OBAMA (2009-2017)

Prior to becoming the first black president, he won two Grammy Awards for "Best Spoken Word Album."  His wife, Michelle, has also won a Grammy.

45.  DONALD J. TRUMP  (2017-2021)

Before becoming president, he  was a real estate developer, entrepreneur and host of the NBC reality show, "The Apprentice."

46.  JOE BIDEN (2021-present)

He overcame a debilitating  childhood stutter after enduring bullying in grade school.

--CootPres