The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Compiled and Edited by Virginia Ross
Registrar for Daniel McMillan Chapter, N.S.D.A.R.1913
Stronghurst Graphic, June 26, 1913
DRAINAGE CONTRACTS AWARDED: The commissioners for Henderson County drainage districts Nos. 1 and 2 met at Oquawka to consider bids which had been received for the work to be done in the two districts. A contract for part of the levee and all of the ditch work was given to the Mussries Construction Co. of Kansas City, Mo., and the rest of the levee work goes to the LaCrosse Dredging Co. of Minneapolis, Minn. In reality there will be four contractors on the job, but two will have sub-contracts. The contracts call for the completion of the work by June 1, 1914. It is to be started at once and is predicted that inside of a few weeks a number of big dredges will be at work.
The contract for the big pumping plant to be erected near Carthage Lake Club remains to be let. The men in charge of awarding the contracts were John Y. Whiteman, B. L. Ditto and Samuel Stevenson, commissioners for District No.1; and F. M. Mellinger, John Y. Whiteman and Geo. F. Galbraith for District No.2. Over 16,000 acres of swamp land is included in the two districts. (Today, we readily see the benefits of this operationsÑfields of corn, soybeans, and now green beans.)
HE STARTED AT STRONGHURST: Pete Groome, well known to many Stronghurst people, is now a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo. For a number of years Pete was train dispatcher for the Denver & Rio Grande Railway but finally tired of the eternal grind of office work and bought a farm in Colorado. An untimely frost upset Pete's hopes of immediate affluence and he began to look about for employment that would be more congenial than the nerve racking proposition of keeping two passenger trains from meeting and passing on the same track. Before the calluses got too thick to come off his hands, Pete found himself in the employ of the government and doing duty for the Interstate Commerce Commission. On a recent journey through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, his duties took him to only important cities. He tells of meeting "Little Billie" Berger down at Yoakum, Tex., where he is dispatcher for the S. A. & A. P. Ry and has accumulated 10,000 or 12,000 of the elusive simoleons (dollars) by economy and judicious investment. His brother Jim is roadmaster for the Santa Fe at Temple, Texas. Their father, Frank Barger, who was section foreman at Stronghurst about fifteen years ago, is foreman on a section of "The Katy" (Missouri, Kansas &Texas Railway) out of Temple and two of the younger boys are similarly employed by the same company. Joe, one of the younger sons who became chief dispatcher at Wichita Falls and Charles, who was cashier for the Santa Fe at Temple, both died of typhoid fever. Peter also reports a pleasant visit with W. B. Scott, trainmaster at Chillicothe when Pete was taking his first lessons in railroading at Stronghurst. Mr. Scott now is president of the Southern Pacific lines with headquarters at Houston.
BRIDAL SHOWER FOR MISS GERTRUDE RANKIN: Mrs. Walter H. Rankin of Hillcrest Farm near Biggsville entertained with a handkerchief shower for Miss Gertrude Rankin in honor of her approaching marriage to Mr. Ralph Millen of San Fernando, California. The lawn and house were beautifully decorated in red and white. Hearts, cupids and red roses were used profusely. Dainty refreshments were served to forty guests. (What would prospective brides today think of a handkerchief shower?)
LOCAL AND AREA NEWS: The Fourth of July will be celebrated in Stronghurst by a picnic to be given by the band boys at Lake Fort. It will feature a dinner, a ball game in the afternoon, and a band concert and fireworks in the evening. Mrs. Katherine Ross and her daughter, Mrs. Nell Cornwall have returned from the Northwest. T.J.Parsons' brother, H. Parsons, who is engaged in the hotel business in Beverly, Ohio, suffered a heavy loss from the floods which prevailed there. The water stood over four feet in the second story of his establishment ruining much of the furniture. Mr. and Mrs. Jess Melvin will again run the Reynolds restaurant in Stronghurst. Marion Davis, who has been attending school at Springfield, Mo., where he now resides with his father Frank Davis, arrived in town to visit friends and relatives.
Chas. Lukens was the victim of an accident. He was picking cherries from a ladder which was resting against a rotten limb, and his son Harold was above him on the same ladder. The limb gave way and the ladder began falling. Harold fell upon his father and Charles, in striving to save the boy from injury, was unable to do anything to break the force of his own fall. He struck the ground with considerable force with Harold on top of him. The latter sustained only a few slight bruises, but those which Charles received were of a more severe and lasting character. Dr. and Mrs. R.I. Findley are the happy parents of a fine 10 lb. daughter which arrived on the stork special. Remember the Dallas City Cement Products Co., when you need the finest thing in continuous hollow concrete building blocks or porch columns.
See A.L. Russler for prices.
Maurice Lovitt who sold his farm near Kirksville, Mo., something over a year ago and moved to a ranch which he purchased near Miles City, Mont., is visiting with his father O.P. Lovitt. Mr. Lovitt brought a car load of western horses with him which he will dispose of at public auction. Dr. A.E. Lauver hears from his home town of Paton, Ia., an account of a serious accident that befell his nephew, Clarence Lauver, a lad of ten years. The boy was knocked down and run over by a 3000 lb. automobile in which six people were riding. The wheels passed over his back just below the shoulders and it was feared that he had suffered internal injuries from which he might not survive. The Raritan Reporter says that in digging a cistern on the P.H.Voorhees property in town, a vein of coal of fair quality was encountered at a depth of only seven feet. The vein ran from eighteen to twenty-four inches in thickness. (Always news worthy, the discovery of an energy source promised possible wealth.) Miss Evelyn Carothers has been teaching at St. Croix Falls, Minn. this past year. Grocery stores will close at 9 a.m. on the morning of July 4th and remain closed throughout the remainder of the day. Taylor Galbraith, T.C.Knutstrom and Walter Fornell left for Elkhart, Ind. and will return in an automobile which Mr. Galbraith has purchased through the Knutstrom & McKeown agency here.
The marriage of Daniel Evans, son of C.P. Evans of Hopper neighborhood and Clara McKee, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. McGee of Olena occurred in Monmouth on June 14th. (Notice the name of the daughter and that of the parents are similar but different. Oft times this occurs in reading the microfilm. As I do not know the individuals, I strive to report both so that you, the reader, might solve the puzzle. Proofreading was not this editor's strong point.) Mr. Guy Little of Decorra and Miss Marie Hutson were married on June 18th at the bride's home at Niota.
A young man by the name of Martin Joyce was run over and killed by a Burlington passenger train one half mile east of Biggsville. Nothing could be learned of his place of residence, but he appeared to be a painter by trade. In Lomax, business in the New City is going right along. The Oregon plant is at work putting up their structure and getting ready for work. Likewise the auto factory is ready for the steel work. Several new houses are being erected on 8th Street.
OLENA OBSERVATIONS: The copious rains of the past few days are making corn and grain look fine but is a set back for hay making. Mrs. Bessie Campbell, who was taken to the Burlington Hospital, has had one of her limbs amputated. Her case was diagnosed as cancer. A young son was born to Mr. and Mrs. James Brewer but passed away in a few hours. Rumor says that Dan Evans and Miss Magee of Stronghurst were married in Galesburg. (Well, this is different from the above notice and all appeared in the same paper. If doing family history, read the entire paper, not just the front page and maybe you will discover what you need to know. In this case, was the couple married in Warren or Knox County? You have two leads as to places and a choice of three names. Of course, we should remember that everyone knew who was being discussed so would over look any errors.)