The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Compiled and Edited by Virginia Ross
Stronghurst Graphic August 31, 1923
A DEATH SUMMONS: James Milligan, prominent banker and well known resident of Smithshire, was summoned by death last Thursday evening at 7:40 o'clock at the Monmouth Hospital. Mr. Milligan had entered the hospital about two weeks ago for treatment. He was sitting in a chair in his room in the evening while the nurse was reading the paper to him. Mrs. Milligan had just returned from supper and had brought some ice cream for her husband. He had scarcely eaten any of it until he was seized with a slight convulsion, the end coming very quickly after he had been removed to the bed.
The deceased was born Nov. 8, 1872 in the old homestead near Stronghurst and was a son of William and Amanda Milligan. In 1894 he went to Smithshire where he had since made his home. He was the organizer of the Smithshire Bank in that year and at the time of his death was cashier of the bank. During his residence there he was a prominent man of the community and took an active part in the affairs of the town. The many friends he had made there were very much grieved when notified of his death.
He was united in marriage to Maude Norman on September 18, 1902. Besides the widow, two sons, Norman and Kenneth, survive their father. He also leaves two sisters, Mrs. Chas. Kirby of this city and Mrs. E. E. Taylor of Long Beach Calif. Funeral rites over the remains were held at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Smithshire with interment in the Kirkwood Cemetery. Pall bearers were George Salter, Dr. Tineman, George Brooks, C.J. Anderson, George Reynolds and Arthur Brent.
FAIR OF PROGRESS: "The biggest little race horse town in North America" is La Harpe and it is already for the Fair of Progress which opens next Tuesday. The largest crowd in any fair in Western Illinois is expected. The races promise to be close for there are many entries of fast horses. There are more cattle and swine entered this year than at any other fair in Western Illinois. This stock has been taking ribbons at other fairs. The night shows are one of the main features of fair along with a firework display.
MARRIES IN THE WEST: Miss Ruth Milligan and Oscar L. Fritts were united in marriage at Spokane, Wash. on August 22nd. Miss Milligan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Milligan. She is a graduate of the local high school and was very popular with her classmates and a conscientious student. Since graduating, she has been teaching school and for the past few years taught the "Coloma" school where her services were valued so highly that she was voluntarily raised to the highest salaried country school teacher in the county.
The groom is the brother of Mrs. Ralph Stewart, Mrs. Stevenson and Mrs. Pearly Dixon all of Biggsville. He is an industrious young man and during his short residence in the West has acquired a large ranch and is extensively engaged in cattle raising. He is also a veteran of the World War. The happy young couple will be at home at Antone, Ore.
POISON BOOZE: Fort Dodge Messenger: "Alcohol drained from vats used to preserve human bodies for dissection work in medical college is being sold for booze in the Middle West. Perhaps, some of this poison has been sold in Fort Dodge. This isn't a "story" put out by the W.C.T.U.. The authority comes from police officials. When bootleggers will go to this extreme, it means the supply of liquor is getting mighty scare. No more revolting tale has been told in connection with illegal rum traffic. Bootleg liquor is nothing more or less than poison. If you want to buy poison, buy some of it but don't try to fool yourself about what you are getting. Your bootlegger may tell you it's all right stuff and he may think so. But he doesn't know. He gets his supply from others. The next time you take a drink of bootleg just remember where it may have originated."
LOCAL AND AREA The Women's Foreign Missionary Society of the M. E. Church will serve a fried chicken supper in the church basement Sept. 8th. The Stronghurst team shut out the invincible Jack's Regulars in a fast game of ball on Calvin's field last Sunday; the score was 7 to 0 favoring the home team. Mr. and Mrs. Roland R. Davidson and son Channing who have been visiting here this summer, left for Niagara Falls via auto. They were accompanied back by Roland's mother, Mrs. F. C. Davidson, who will make an indefinite visit at Niagara and Thorrell, Ontario. Leslie Milligan left for Chicago at which place he has accepted a position with the Western Electric Co. John Fisher, who has been local manager for the Illinois Utilities Co., is also in the employ there having commenced work there about a week ago. The ladies of the Media Community Club will serve a fried chicken supper at the club room Sept. 8th. A free program will be given at 8 o'clock. (Stronghurst or Media-take your pick for fried chicken.)
WILL OBSERVE LABOR DAY: Through the efforts of the Stronghurst Band, arrangements have been made for a public observance of Labor Day, Sept. 4th. "A day of fun for everyone is the aim of the promoters of the celebration and judging from the program which has been arranged, the objective will no doubt be attained. One of the leading features will be the ball game which will be staged at 2 o'clock on the diamond located a mile south of town. This will be a game between members of the band and a nine picked from the ranks of the business and professional men of the town. A glance at the line-up on the hand bills which have been distributed ought to be sufficient to convince anyone that there will be some rare sport furnished those who attend. We are authorized to state that there will be taxi service between the village and the ball park during the afternoon so that no one who wishes to see the game will have to walk unless they prefer to do so.
In the evening from 5:30 to 7:30 there will be a Picnic supper in the village park and afterward a big band concert and watermelon social. The businesses houses in the village have agreed to close at 1 p.m. in order to give everybody a chance to enjoy the half holiday. Get ready for a good time and demonstrate the fact that you are a real "BOOSTER OF THE BAND."
GOT A SECOND HELPING: Two of our most popular merchants whose discriminating taste in matters culinary enables them to scent a good dinner a mile away were patrons of the Lutheran Church picnic at Lake Fort. The dinner was served cafeteria style and after the two gentlemen had load up their plates with the tempting viands which the good ladies of church know so well how to prepare, they repaired to a nearby table, the bench of which was nailed to the table legs. Now one of the gentlemen is a rather ample girth and weighs several stone and while the other is of a smaller dimension, their combined weight is not inconsiderable. When this weight was suddenly transferred to the bench seat, the result was somewhat startling. The table literally "rose to the occasion" and the food and drink which had been placed thereon was delivered to the would be diners in a manner calculated to impress them with the fact that there is a point where self service ceases to be a convenience.
The appearance of the two gentlemen when the episode was over is said to have been suggestive of a scene from Charlie Chaplin's pie throwing act. The picnic management realizing that the external application of food is neither nourishing nor satisfactory too the human system, very generously provided their two patrons with a second helping of food which they succeeded in properly encompassing.
DALLAS CITY HAS A NEW MARSHAL: At about 2 o'clock in the morning on Sunday, Aug. 19th Marshal Symmonds of Dallas City pulled off a stunt in the Nutt Caf in that city which not only cost him his star, but resulted in him paying a fine for distributing the peace. It seems that when Symmonds went into the caf he was taunted by a crowd of loafers who were hanging about the place with being a bum marksman, and in order to prove the falsity of the charge, he proceeded to empty the contents of the gun which he carried at the picture on a calendar hanging on the wall of the caf. The matter came to the ears of the city council and it was decided by them that they could hardly afford to pass it by unnoticed. Symmonds, therefore, handed in his resignation at the meeting of the board on Aug. 21st. and W. Q. Crane, former postmaster at Lomax, Ill, who recently became a resident of Dallas City, was appointed to fill the vacancy. We do not know anything about "Quig's" proficiency in the use of a gun, but we predict that he will prove equal to the take of maintaining proper degree of law and order.
WEDDING BELLS: Thomas Porter, son of William Porter of this city, and Miss Marie Kemp, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. L. Kemp of Decorra, were quietly married at Burlington Tuesday. The young couple will probably make their home with the bride's parents for a time.
NOW DIVISION SUPERINTENDENT: From the Union Pacific Magazine-"Peter Groom, who on June 7th was appointed acting superintendent, Kansas Division was born in 1876 near the present town of Stronghurst, Ill. where at the age of 13 he started as messenger boy and switch light tender for the Santa Fe. From 1889 to 1912 he served as telegrapher, agent dispatcher and chief dispatcher for the Santa Fe, Colorado Midland, Union Pacific and Denver and Rio Grande. From Feb. 1912 to Dec. 31, 1916 he was examiner for the Interstate Commerce Commission. He re-entered service of the Union Pacific as night chief dispatcher at Cheyenne on Jan. 1, 1917, and after leaving there on May 1, 1917, he held successively the positions of chief dispatcher at Green River, train rules examiner at Denver, general safety agent at Omaha and assistant superintendent at Denver."
SCARED BY "DESPERADOES:" A good joke is told on Henry Black and Cliff Schramm. They were going to Burlington in Henry's auto in broad daylight when they came to the end of the Mississippi River Bridge and there they saw a man and woman standing with their hands up and a man dressed in dark standing in front of them. Two or three other desperadoes stood nearby. They stepped on the accelerator and went past the bunch in leaps like a jack rabbit and the way they tore across the bridge wasn't slow-expecting each second to hear a short and orders to "get their hands up." Henry says, "It was fortunate they had no guns or they would have shot at the yeggs, sure as fate." They were telling all sorts of exciting stories about the "daring daylight holdup and robbery they had run into at the bridge when to their chagrin they learned it was a wedding-a case of parties up there having accrued a license on this side of the river and expecting to get married in Burlington only to be told they would have to go back to the state where their license had been issued. Hence, it was an outdoor ceremony they had run into and had they not been so scared, they might have been witness of the novel affair-Dallas City Review.
CIRCUS COMING TO TOWN: Campbell Bros. trained wild animal shows will exhibit afternoon and night at Stronghurst Tuesday, Sept. 4th under the mammoth waterproof tents. This year the management has spared neither time, effort nor expense in providing a diversified program of entertainment without any objectionable features. Among the numerous wild animal acts you will see Lucy, the most intelligent performing elephant on the American continent, then there are lions from the African jungles in their large steel arena, educated Shetland ponies, dogs, monkeys, bears and the prize-winning, most beautiful mule in the world. The arena acts consist of daring aerialists, graceful acrobats, jugglers, trapeze artists, wire-walkers and comical clowns. Show goes on rain or shine.
FARM BUREAU MEETING FEATURES FREE SHOW: As a part of the campaign for re-organization and the securing of new members, the Henderson County Farm Bureau put on a free moving picture show at the Lyric Theatre followed by an address by Mr. L. E. Frazee of Carthage, Ill. The first film showed the meanderings of a small stream and how it turned into a river that reached the ocean. The second film showed the various branches of work undertaken by the local Farm Bureaus. (A free movie was a big draw for crowds.)
LOCAL AND AREA NEWS: The third annual picnic was held in the Davidson woods east of the big railroad bridge east of Media (check this issue for list of participants). Mrs. Rhonda Anderson Wolford has been engaged as teacher for the Coloma School for the coming year. Mr. Wolford will be employed at Weir’s Fruit Farm. Master Roy Millen of Biggsville visited his cousin, Paul Bell, over the weekend.
A new barber shop is opening in Media one block north of the Farmers Co-operative store by Ed Heap. His prices are 25 cents for hair cutting and 15 cents for a shave. Nearly every Sunday School in the county sent a large delegation to the second annual picnic of the Henderson County Sunday School Association at Weir’s Oak Grove Farm Saturday. The ladies of the Maple Grove M.E. church will hold a bake sale at the Harter Drugstore Saturday afternoon, Sept. 1st. (Note for the 25 yr. column, Aug. 29, 1898-the new U.P. Church in Media was dedicated.)
About 80 of the neighbors and friends of Mr. A. A.Worthington gathered at the Worthington home southeast of Stronghurst last Friday evening and spent a very enjoyable time celebrating the gentleman’s birthday and the close of the threshing season. The affair was in the nature of a lawn fete and outdoor games and sports were indulged in by some of the guests while other enjoyed themselves in social chat. During the course of the evening the hostess served a delicious hot lunch cafeteria style. Mrs. Zoe Salter and daughters returned from their summer in Colorado and Miss Mildred has resumed her position as clerk in the Grandey store. There were enough doctors of Chiropractic school in Stronghurst last Sunday to constitute a sized convention. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Gent, local practitioners, the following were in the village before going to Davenport to attend a chiropractic lyceum course: E. E. Nordeen of Dallas City, Ill.; C. W. Mills of LaFayette, Ind.; C.E.Wells of Canton, S. Dak.; and Mr. and Mrs. Brown of Sterling, Ill.
Fred Lindell, a former well known resident and business man of Oquawka, died at his home in Artesia, N. Mex. On Aug. 20th. The C.B. & Q. Railroad officials have been forced to order the hauling of water in their tank cars from Gladstone for use in the Galesburg yards because of the extreme shortage of water there. J. Paul Califf, attorney and present mayor of Carthage, Ill., has been appointed secretary to Chief Justice Floyd Thompson of the Illinois Supreme Court; the position carries a salary of $5,000 per year ($68,600 in today’s values). Mrs. Lillie Mahnesmith left with her son Earl for Los Angeles, Calif. where they will spend time with friends before going to Moapa, Nev. where Earl has secured employment with a railroad company and they will make their home. Livestock shipments from this station were as follows: Curry and Ross, five car loads of cattle; Frank Nelson, three car loads of cattle; F.J. Johnson for Shippers Ass’n., one load of cattle and one load of hogs; Frank Pearson, three loads of cattle; thirteen car loads in all. C. H. Curry, Jos. Ross, Frank Nelson and Frank Pearson accompanied the shipment.
DEATH FROM EATING GRASS: The little three year old daughter of John Middletown of Gladstone died last Monday from the effects, according to physicians, of eating a quantity of “Shadow Grass” which she found in the yard of her home the day before. The child had been suffering from whooping cough for a week or more and this fact the doctors state may have been a contributory cause of her death. The funeral will be held at the home with the remains interred in the Olena Cemetery.
OBITUARY***MRS. MARK VAUGHN*** Mrs. Mark Vaughn of Burlington, Ia. Died at the Mercy Hospital last Sunday night following an illness of about 8 months. Mrs. Vaughn was formerly Fanny L. Kirby of Terre Haute, Ill and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Josephus Kirby. She was married to Mark Vaughn in Terre Haute and for the last 16 years they have made their home in Burlington. The deceased is survived by her husband and three children: Alice, Clifford and Glenn. She is also survived by one sister, Mrs. C.A. Tharp of Carman, Ill. Funeral services were held at the Terre Haute M.E.Church with interment in the Terre Haute Cemetery.
OLD BEDFORD PICNIC: After an interruption of several years following the late world war, the yearly Old Bedford Picnic has been re-established as a feature of community life in that neighborhood. Sept. 6th has been fixed as the date and in addition to the big basket dinner an excellent program will be in the afternoon. Featured speakers include the following: D.E. Hughes of Cameron, Ill.; Ivan Agee of Monmouth, Ill.; F. W. Leonard of Blandinsville, Ill.; Walter Kline of August, Ill. and S. A. Cook of Roseville, Ill.
LOCAL AND AREA NEWS: Mrs. James Wolfe was taken to the hospital for the removal of her tonsils. Allie Bruce has been employed at the Santa Fe Shops in Fort Madison. Dale Davis was on the Chicago market with 120 head of hogs of his own feeding which topped the market. Dale is one of our successful hog raiser, growing and shipping about 500 head each year. Mrs. T. A. Nichols, her daughters, Nellie and Louise, and son Kenneth of Burlington, Ia. and Esther and Howard Marshall ate Sunday dinner with Mrs. Zulu Allison and Harold at their home east of town. Dr. Mrs. Henderson is will spend several months’ vacation with her brother living at Montrose, Colorado. She is hoping that a much needed rest and the invigorating atmosphere of Colorado will assist her in regaining her health. Mrs. Annie Dickerson departed for a visit with her brother, C. W. Fort, at his home at Evanston, Ill. The proposition to issue bonds to the amount of $20,000 for the enlargement of the Blandinsville school building passed. In Raritan the Caldwell Sisters of Iowa gave an entertainment in the Opera House; one half of the proceeds went toward the B.Y. P.U.
MEDIA MEANDERINGS: Charles Stanbary has moved his auto repair shop into the Leftwich garage and will assist Mr. Leftwich in work there. A young man from Biggsville has opened a barber shop and pool room in the building vacated by Stanbary. Wm. Hickman and son John drove rover to Carman and brought home a truck load of fine watermelons which they sold for 15 cents each. Mrs. Ralph Higgison of Knoxville, Ill. was in town doing some work in the interest of the Home Missionary Society of the M. E. Church. C. E. Spiker of Stronghurst is painting the residence of Mrs. Martha Van Alstine. Mrs. Etta Thompson is the proud possess of a fine new tea wagon, the surprise gift of her brothers and sisters. Miss Myrtle Botkin of Olena and Mr. Andy Barry of Media were united in marriage at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Burlington on Saturday. They are at present at the home of the groom’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ed Barry.
BIGGSVILLE BRIEFS: Lynn Jamison is acting as mail carrier during the absence of John McHenry. Miss Josephine Pence was able to come home from the hospital after an operation for appendicitis. Frank Stevenson returned home from the Monmouth Hospital where he had his tonsil removed. Lou Weigand of Carman gave an aluminum demonstration last Thursday night at the home of Letha Rowley, quite a few being present and were well pleased with the cookware. He is now canvassing the town and the surrounding area. (The original ideas used today by Tupperware, etc.) John Roy Cochran, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Cochran who has been confined to his bed for several weeks with St. Vitis Dance, is reported some improved. (Saint Vitus Dance) is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet.) Mr. and Mrs. John Dye of the South Henderson Neighborhood are the happy parents of a baby boy named Warren Edwin. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Kilgore entertained at their home the members of the South Henderson Social Club when the ladies of the club entertained the husbands. An enjoyable evening was spent in conversation and games. Refreshments of sandwiches, pickles, salad, ice cream and cake and coffee were served. Mr. John Vaughn of Smithshire moved his family into the Tom Boyer house and will make this their home.