Fox Lake/Grant Township Area Historical Association Meeting May 21, 2022: Goodbye to Nancy Kubalanza

Held at the Grant Hall Museum in Ingleside, Illinois.

Nancy Kubalanza had been president of the organization since 2003 and was instrumental in getting the present building from the Grant Township Transportation Department for use as the museum.  She was also very active with the Republican Club of the area.

A moment of silence was held for her.  It was kind of sad seeing her name in the minutes of the last meeting held in March.

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We are looking for some sort of Trak Phone for use since the cost of a landline is now at $138 a month.  A ridiculously high price considering the amount of use we get out of it.

As is the case with most all historical societies, money is extremely short.

(By the way, gas prices at the stations in Fox Lake went from $5.08 to $5.10 on the way over.  Thornton's only sells the Northwest Herald of McHenry County and the Lake County News, which is free, now,  When I bought the Herald, the comment by the clerk at the register was "Wow, a person buying a newspaper."  So sad.  I'll miss newspapers.)

Our original Constitution dates from 1997 and tweaks are needed on it.  We saw a list of proposals.  Nothing major.

--Cooter

46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 4: Lincoln to Garfield

16. ABRAHAM LINCOLN  (1861-1865)

"Honest Abe," the tallest president at 6'4", may have had Marfan  Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes people to be  very tall, thin and long-limbed.

17.  ANDREW JOHNSON  (1865-1869)

Though one of the few presidents without a pet, Johnson apparently cared for a family of White House mice, which he called "the little fellows."

18.  ULYSSES S. GRANT  (1869-1877)

Civil War General Grant had been invited by the Lincolns to join them at Ford's Theatre on that fateful evening of April 14, 1865,  but was forced to  decline when he and his wife made plans to visit their children in New Jersey.  (I have heard it was mostly because Grant's wife hated Mrs. Lincoln.)

19.  RUTHERFORD B. HAYES (1877-1881)

Hayes was the first president to have a telephone in the White House.

20.  JAMES A. GARFIELD  (1881)

He was the first-known left-handed president and was elected to the U.S. Senate, but never served as Ohio senator because he then won the Republican nomination for president.

--DaCootPres

1918 Influenza in Butler Co., Pa.-- Part 4: Working Together and the "Foreign Population"

Butler County's Red Cross chapter contributed money and resources to combat the epidemic.   They published articles in the Butler Eagle with information on prevention and treatment as well as advertisements requesting volunteer nurses.  Two local women, Clara Beach and Helen Campbell,  worked with the city's health board to recruit volunteers through a county-wide telephone campaign, calling over 400 Butler County residents and recruiting 31 volunteers by the end of the first week.

On October 21, the New Castle News in neighboring Lawrence County reported conditions in Butler County were worse among the "foreign population."  Among them were many immigrants coming in from Eastern Europe with no family members to care for them.  (See my earlier posts about the mass burial site for the immigrant dead in the county.  Click on the Butler County Pa label below to see them.)

Their employers, local industries from the Saxonburg area, buried the dead in a mass grave in Winfield Township.  Father O'Callahan, from the St. John Parish in Coylesville, administered the Catholic burial rites for them and commissioned a wooden cross made of railroad ties

A Short History of Spring Grove, Illinois-- Part 2: Growth of the Village 1840 to 1900

The presence of Nippersink Creek, which zig-zags its way through the community made it a perfect place for a mill, so important to early settlers.  By 1841, Spring Grove had two mills:  a grist mill owned by Joseph Bliven and a sawmill owned by Lewis Hatch.  The area became known as Blivin's Mill.

Lewis Hatch became a big landowner and farmer as well and is the father of Fred Hatch (inventor of the silo).

In 1847, the Blivin's Mills Post Office was established and the first store was built.

In 1883,the name became Spring Grove because of the large spring and the beautiful grove of trees around it.   This would be where the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery is located.

In the next years, Spring Grove became both an agricultural and business center.

Improvements came along as well, including telephone service in 1897 when Walter Carey ran a phone line from his store in Wilmot (Wisconsin, just over the state line) to his farm in English Prairie.

By the early 1900s, concrete sidewalks replaced wooden walkways in the downtown area (which is not very big even to today).

--CooterBlivinHatch

No More Time From Bell Telephone and Western Union in 1918

From the July 11, 2018, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"It is now up to you to see that your timepieces are in working order.  The Bell telephone company gave notices some time ago that they would no longer give the correct time to patrons.  Now the Western Union has sent out notice that it will no longer give the time of day.

"It is said that in some larger cities since the order of the telephone company, the calls have been so numerous for the Western Union that it has been swamped.  Therefor the new rule."

Well, They Should Use Their Smart Phones.  -Cooter

A Second Phone Line Put Into DeKalb Fire Department in 1917

From the March 29, 2017, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1917, 100 Years Ago."

"In order that there might not be no time lost in case someone was endeavoring to report a fire in DeKalb, another telephone has been placed at the station.

"The new phone has been attached to the telephone gong circuit, and in case the operator cannot get the boys on 49, she has an opportunity to use 549."

A Three-Digit Phone Number.  I Could Remember That.  --Cooter

Looking Back to 1916: A War Tax on Telephone Calls and Telegrams

From the October 12, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."

1916, 100 Years Ago.

"You will notice on your telephone and telegraph bills nowadays that an extra penny is not added, and although a penny is the smallest denomination of American money, with some business concerns that added penny for war tax amounted to considerable in a month.

"Telephone calls that went over a fifteen cent charge were taxed a penny, while telegrams of all kinds, way bills, etc., were also taxed.  The penny can now go towards the high cost of living instead of the war fund."

And, We Weren't Even At War Then.  --Cooter

Looking Back to 1941: All About Sycamore, Illinois, in 1941

From the March 2, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back.

"Sycamore is 840 feet above sea level and covers 1,000 acres, its assessed valuation is $3,090,228 and there are 12,000 volumes in the Sycamore Public Library.  Sycamore received its water from three wells pumping more than 11,700,000 gallons per month.

"There are 1,265 telephones in service, 14 lawyers, seven doctors, six dentists and two osteopaths.

I had to look up osteopaths.  They deal with drug-free, non-invasive medicine primarily aimed at treating the musculoskeletal framework of the body.

In Case You Were Wondering.  --Cooter

Looking Back to 1966: New Garbage Cans and Dial Tones

From the June 8, 2016, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."

1966, 50 Years Ago.

**  "Some 100 homes in DeKalb began their 60-day test of a new and sanitary disposal Westvaco Papercan bag, designed to replace two regular size garbage cans and speed up the collections in the city."

They definitely didn't collect garbage like they do today.

**  "No, it's not the sound of bees, mosquitoes, or double-winged bugs from outer space; it is the new dial tone and busy tone of the new electric telephone gear being installed by the DeKalb-Ogle telephone Company."

What, no ringtones?

I Want My Bad Moon Rising.  --Cooter

1915 Fire Reporting in DeKalb, Ill.: Early 911, Nipping It in the Bud

From the Dec. 29, 2015, MidWeek "Looking Back."

From Dec. 23, 1915, 100 years ago.

"The chief of the fire department asks The Chronicle to inform the people of the city that in case there is a fire to report that they do not take time to call the fire department headquarters on the telephone but just tell the operator 'fire call.'

"There is a special fire circuit by means of which the operator can send in an alarm without using the regular phone to the station and by this doing away with the calling of the number and letting the firemen realize instantly that a fire awaits them, several seconds can be saved which may mean the difference between a costly fire and one nipped in the bud."

--Coot911er

Telephone Connections and T-Storms 100 Years Ago in DeKalb County, Illinois

From the July 15, 2015, Mid Week (DeKalb, Il.) "Looking Back.'

From July 1915.

The Inter-Township Telephone Company, which had headquarters at Hinckley and exchanges in Hinckley, Waterman, Shabbona, and Lee, has refused to make connections with the DeKalb County Telephone Company which operates in the northern 15 of 18 townships in DeKalb County.

They had damaging thunderstorms back then as well.  Much damage was done by one on Saturday night.  Telephone and electric wire service were put out of order.  Trees and buildings were struck by lightning, especially south of Sycamore.  A barn in Cortland was struck and caught fire, but was extinguished with minimal loss.  The steeple of the Methodist church in DeKalb was struck and the building badly torn and damaged by water.

--Cooter

The Evolution of Communication-- Part 1

From a Vaseline ad in the November 26, 2012, Time Magazine.

And, Vaseline is over 140 years old.  A Timeline:

3200 BC--  In the Fertile Crescent, cryptic messages set in stone tablets.

1870s--  The telephone invented

1920s  Initiated in the mid-nineteenth century, telegrams became widespread for communicating right away with far-flung places.

Make Mine a Singing Telegram.  --DaCoot

Telephone 135 Years Ago

March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell said these words to his assistant, "Mr. Watson. Come here. I want to see you." This was a major step in human communication. One that continues developing even today considering all the folks I see walking around with phones growing out of their ears as well as thumbs-a-flying on their phones doing tat texting thing.

In honor of it, today, Bob Stroud on his Ten at ten show on Chicago's WDRV radio station played ten songs dealing with telephones.

Can you name ten songs about telephones off the top of your head?




A few hints: Tommy Tutone
Steely Dan
Blondie
Chuck Berry
Jim Croce

You can find the ten songs at http://roaddogsroadlog.blogspot.com, today's date.

Congrats to Alexander. Too Bad Elisha. --DaCoot