I learned it myself!

How many times has someone asked you "where did you learn that"....or "where did you learn to do that"??!!  Probably on your own.....but you probably didn't teach yourself, so you should say "I learned it myself".  That might not be so grammatically correct, but it's the correct answer, so who cares if it meets or doesn't meet Queen Elizabeth's English grammar test!

One of the first things I remember learning was how to baptize our cat.  It was sure funny seeing that cat with her feet stretched out in that wash tub, with her screeching at the top of her lungs.  I remember holding her down in the water and her paws kept flying around.  I got scratched on one arm and it sure hurt, but I finally got her completely covered with water so she was baptized. Cats had to be baptized before you gave them a name so when I was done she was Ezmerelda.   When I finally let go of her, I bet she jumped five feet in the air to get out of that old tub.  Water was dripping from her fur as she ran about 200 miles per hour towards the garage.  Let me tell you we didn't see that cat for about 4 days.

I sure learned at an early age that if mama and dad had been fighting,  you didn't let her brush your hair.  I didn't know that at first. Then one day after "a big one" she picked me up and jammed me on her lap and began to brush my hair just like she was slapping that old rug with her rug beater.  That brush went deep into the scull and those rats in my hair were no more because they were in the brush.  My scalp took about a week to heal from where the hair came out with the rats.  I hid every time there was "a big one"  before I had my hair brushed.

As I got to be an adult, I was still saying "I learned it myself".  One of the biggest things I learned was the real definition of "car sickness".  That was the day of the month when the car payment was due.....I sure had car sickness then.

As I aged, I learned pretty quickly that when you went shopping for breakfast cereal, you had to overlook the cool prize that was in the box and the cool chocolate taste or the fruity pebbles that were just sumptuous.  Instead you had to look at the fiber content and buy solely based on fiber.  I learned it myself for sure.

But the biggest thing that I learned for myself is that growing wrinkles is a fact of life and wrinkles don't hurt. 


Greenview Things

1974 -  The old legion Hall was razed in June to make room for a community building. 

1974 -  Les McKee died September 9 at the age of 92.

1974 -  Vince Evers was killed November 13 when the truck he was driving was struck by a C&NW freight train at an unguarded crossing.  He was age 30.

1975 -  Dr. Willis Beard, local veterinarian, died February 17 at the age of 78.

1975 -  Joe Wagoner was hospitalized for treatment of burns received when his home was destroyed by fire on September 21.

1975 -  Claude Beauchamp, who was the rural mail carrier from 1920 to 1964, died December 31.

1976 -  Five year old Craig Michael Bryant and one and a half year old Jennifer Lynn Bryant son and daughter of Mr. and Mr.s Michael Bryant died as fire swept through their home directly across from the Curtis elevator on January 14.

1976 -  Dedication services for the new Masonic building were held on Sunday March 28.

1976 -  An Illinois Bicentennial Wagon Train visited Greenview on April 19 to commemorate our nation's 200th birthday.

1976 -  Tripp Bros Hardware store celebrated one hundred years of business on April 17.

1976 -  John Allen Lash, age 20, drowned June 27 while on an outing with his family at Spoon Lake near Galesburg.

1976 -  Dale Edwards retired as petroleum salesman for Menard Service Co after forty one years of dedicated service.

1976 -  The old grade school gymnasium was torn down.  In 1926 the school board purchased this portable gym for $8,583.91.

1976 -  The old First State Bank Bank of Greenview building, built in 1913 was razed to make ready for a new Greenview Community Bank building.   The building next door was also razed .... it had been used in past years as a tavern, grocery store and recreation hall.

1976 -  The Daily Bread program began on December 6.

1976 -  The Federal Housing Units in Greenview were completed.

Thought For The Day

The inability to forget is infinitely more devastating
than the inability to remember.
--Mark Twain

There are so many times my mind seems to be wandering.  I will be sitting doing something or writing something or even in the middle of a conversation and then I find myself thinking about a totally different subject.  I think that's called mind wandering.

They say that first your mind wanders.....then eventually you yourself will began to wander once you lose your cognitive abilities.  Some day I think my mind isn't just wandering around in space, it's completely gone on a long walk.  But so far it seems to come home when it gets hungry or tired so I guess I don't have to worry yet.

At least I don't have to worry as long as my mind doesn't come back from its wondering excursions drunk or with some type of horrible disease that is.

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Jack and The Beanstalk

Jack Met a Tall Tall Giant.

Within the last few days I had the occasion to once again read Jack and the Beanstalk...several times.  I had forgotten a lot of the story from my childhood and my children's young years.

When reading it, I began to wonder if this story is really one the little kids should be in love with.  Here we are as parents trying to teach a bunch of the world's future grown-ups right from wrong and that dang Jack not only steals gold and the hen which lays golden eggs on demand but also a golden harp....then a bit later he kills the giant by cutting down the beanstalk when the giant is climbing down.  Why did I always think this book was good clean fun for the kiddies of today? Not only does this book seem to teach kids to steal from giants but to also kill them in order to be able to eat the giant's food.  Implied violence and theft!!!  WOW!!  However, I will admit Jack sure did display a lot of perseverance in the story.

And of course the giant made it quite clean he wanted to grind Jack's bones to make his bread.  Is this all violence or what?  And gory thoughts too!

Perhaps I'm getting old and see things more plainly than I did when I was young and when I was raising kids.  For those of us who grew up in a world where violence just "wasn't"......most of us probably never even think about kids reading a book like Jack and the Beanstalk and how it fits into today's world which at times can have a lot of violence and theft and other gruesome things. 

I was kind of glad I read about Jack and his escapades....but, now I'm worried about the trillion of kids who also read it/have read it.  hmmm.......

Springfield City Hall 1908

Springfield City Water Light & Power before growing into

the mega plant it is today.  This utility is the largest municipal

utility in Illinois.

The explosion and fire at City Water Light and Power

November 10, 2007, approximately 6:50 pm.

1961 Luers Shoe Advertisement.

Springfield Americana Nursing Home,

707 North Rutledge...no longer in existence....SUI Springfield

campus buildings now in that area.

Thought For The Day

Always walk through life as if you have

something new to learn and you will.

--Vernon Howard



Look it's a plane, no it's a big flying machine with tails.....no look again it's huge flocks of geese.....pooping and puttering to somewhere....we know not where.

For the last several days, the sight of thousands of geese in the sky has been common.  Not only big brownish colored ones, but snow geese too.  We aren't talking about a few and sparsely flying flocks of geese on the move.....we are talking about thousands of geese flying with long trails of geese in lines.  It kind of looks like they are flying south but then they turn around and fly the opposite way towards evening looking for a big corn field so they can fill their bellies to replenish their energy.  This is one time you don't want to be driving underneath the geese for fear of getting a downpour of geese poop.  I bet the ground has become well fertilized these past several days.   And you better hope that one of these heavy birds doesn't have a heart attack and die and fall on you,  since I read an article last year that a Canadian goose fell on the firefighters club building at the lake and made a huge hole in the roof.

We've been seeing these geese since Friday and, as of yesterday, they were still in the sky and we saw many more white snow geese yesterday than any other day.  Why are they flying and where are they going???  The 64 thousand dollar question.  The extended forecast doesn't show bad weather coming to our area any time soon.  I guess the big geese are just as confused as we are about the weather....Mother Nature is fooling humans and fowl.....shame on her.

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Looking Out Over The Enchanted Forest

The Forest Is Full of Enchantment!

Whenever I want to have a really good time, I just go to the enchanted forest.  It's right behind me and it has some cool things!  I just pack my sammiches, usually peanut butter and honey because they are so good and give me protein too, and also I pack a big bottle of vitamin water because I need strength to climb over all of those logs and to be able to jump the streams.

Right off the bat I come across Little Miss Muffet sitting on her tuffet....she isn't eating her curds and whey because she says they suck.  She is eating the Big Mac that the last visitor gave her.  And has a big chocolate milkshake too with a big daub of whipped cream.  She says the spiders aren't bothering her much in this cold weather so she can spend a bit of time chatting about the lack of snow and how she doesn't have to burrow down in the ground so far this year.

Onward to my next stop, I jump the stream and tred up the hill to the big stone wall with Humpty Dumpty sitting in the middle.  He's about frozen because his eggshell is cracked from the last fall he had....but he's still intact.   He says he hasn't had many visitors this time of the year and has lost weight because no one has left him little tidbits to give him new weight.  I usually give him a sugar cube which he relishes with glee.  Humpty says his mom Cluckety Cluck still lives with him and sits on him every night to keep him warm and comfy in the enchanted forest.

Leaving Humpty I sprinted up the hill to find a pail of water with Jack and Jill...but half-way up the hill I find an empty pail but no sign of Jack nor Jill.  Still no sign of them at the top either so I go onward toward the house in the forest belonging to the Three Bears.  I'm scared of Papa Bear but I heard his bark is worse than his bite.  I sure never want to find out though.  I knock but no answer.  Where the heck is everyone today??  So on to my next planned last stop.

Up another hill and around the corner I find my target....the Old Lady In The Shoe.  Yes she's there and so is Jack and Jill and the Three Bears and Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf and Hansel and Gretel and even Rip Van Winkel with the Black Raven sitting on his shoulder.  I can't believe they are all together in one spot in the enchanted forest.  Some of them hate each other and want to eat each other so this is almost miraculous.  I stop to ponder the situation for a while and then they see me.....all of them wave and motion me over.

I slowly approach and then I see a big table with bags of pretzels and sandwiches and a big cake sitting in the middle, with a blue cooler just like mine full of coke and orange drink cans.  Paper plates and plastic silverware enough for all of us.  That cake sure looks familiar and so do those paper plates and the cooler even has my name on it.  What the heck.....have my enchanted forest friends pilfered my house to get their picnic supplies.  I thought I was missing quite a few items lately....guess I know now who got those.

But we're here for the party....just a bunch of friends in the enchanted forest.  A case of bringing the enemies together and bonding by the friends of the forest. See...even the worst enemies can mend the fences long enough to have fun for a while.   We'll all eat, and be merry and dance the dance of enchantment among the trees.  Up the hill and through the woods..........

another rather lame excuse for a spoof!

A Smattering of Old Greenview Things

 Johnson and Denton opened in 1933 in the Wernsing Building.  Wernsings had a general store in the same building since 1883.

In 1935 Dick Cramer opend an impletment company in the Rayburn garage location.

The post office was in the Roberts bujilding for 30 yeawsr and then in 1936 moved to the First State Bank Building.  ( and was there until the new post office was built).

The first building in Greenview was the Legion bilding.  Second was the Payne building which was also called the Bracken-Woodruff building.  Al Barnett operated a hotel in the Woodruff building.

In 1944 the locker plant opened in the first floor of the Opera House.

B. C. Armeling sold the hardware and implement to Harold Baugher in 1947.

In 1948 Gerald Meehan bought the Corner Cafe from Clinton Lance and then later his brother Bimmie and his wife Emma purchased the business.


Thought For The Day

The palest ink is better than the best memory.

--Chinese Proverb

Do you have people telling you to not eat this or not eat that?  Of course at some time we have all had someone tell us this. 

Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.....they were told not to eat the apple, but old Satan himself tempted them with a lie and they ate that apple and look what it got them....us!

When we were kids, our moms probably said: don't you eat that candy!  And she meant it too...and if we did eat that candy bar we were in deep doo doo with mama.

Then we grew up and maybe we were at the Weight Watchers meeting and they said "don't eat that!"  Eat this crappy tasting stuff that will melt your excess pounds.  Oh it melted pounds off...you had to starve yourself with putrid tasting things.

Then came the doctor man....giving you the third degree because all of your arteries were closing up......but he said it a different way....he said ....."go ahead and eat it and you won't be here long".  That should have taught us a lot, but did it?  I tend to cheat.  And, when I lay me down to sleep, I pray that the bad foods are processed quickly through my body and not land in the arteries. 

Sorry men!

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Doing The Funky Chicken

Do you remember the funky chicken?

As a kid my mama taught me to do "The chicken", where you flapped your arms and kicked your feet.  She said that dance was a popular folk dance when I was a baby.   After she taught me that, my mama and I would dance around flapping our arms and kicking our feet and I really thought I was a chicken.  Especially when I was scratching my feet and cackling and crowing like an old rooster and hen.  I always had fun when my mama and I were dancing around like a couple of goony chickens.

I'd been dancing that chicken dance for years when, in about 1970, the Jackson 5 came out with their funky song "How Funky Is Your Chicken".  It was right about that time that the "Funky Chicken Dance" became popular.  What????  I'd been doing this same dance for years and now everybody thought "wow" a new dance.  I sure laughed at people doing that dance because they looked pretty stupid, flapping their arms and kicking their feet.  And when they added the "Yellow Chicken" moves where they wiggled their legs like they were made of rubber, I about cracked up.  But the "Crazy Chicken" moves in the Funky Chicken dance were the best as people were acting like they were scratching the floor and clucking really loud and boisterously.  How funny.

Yep it was funny because now I knew how funny and stupid my mama and I must have looked years ago.  Not only did we do the Chicken Folk dance back in the late 1950's but we were doing the Funky Chicken with the Yellow Chicken and the Crazy Chicken moves and we didn't even know it as this dance, with these moves, hadn't even been invented when we were doing it.  So America......my mama and I must have used the Chicken Folk Dance to invent that Funky Chicken dance and moves....a long time ago in never never land.

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Dance-The-Funky-Chicken-257599577

Vintage Nearby Towns and Areas

Athens Main Street 1908

Ashland Farmers State Bank 1909

Mason City Farmers Grain and Coal 1917

Havana theater

Havana High School 1913

The old screen left from the Havana Drive In

A 1917 advertisement for the Havana National Bank

You can click on most photos to get an enlarged view.



Events in Greenview

February 3 - The Greenview CIA Soup and Chilli Dinner, 5 to 7 pm at the Greenview School all purpose room.  The GHS vs. Illini Central game to follow.  All proceeds benefit the Greenview CIA Scholarship Fund.

Ongoing - The Historic Marbold Homestead Association is attempting to purchase the old Marbold Mansion.  Funds are needed to help purchase this property.  Donate if you can.  Details can be found on the association website.

 http://historic-marbold-farmstead.org/Home_Page.html



Thought For The Day

  I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and

causes me to tremble for the safety of my country....corporations

have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places

will follow.

--Abraham Lincoln

It seems this man could foresee the future!

There are people who are considered an incendiary, meaning a fire starter and then there are those who meet the other definition.  Meaning.....a person who is likely to incite civil unrest; tending to arouse strife; agitator.

Yes I know quite a few of those type people...not firestarters....the others.  And I don't especially like them.

Usually the words which come from their mouth tends to resemble something which would come from a person who is an "anti-" just about everything.....and the political ones are the worst. 

Sure people have the freedom of speech and if they want to post their true feelings they should do that, but if they're really strong about their
"anti-whatever feelings" in many cases it can show how much of a horse's patootie they really are and it might turn people off to a friendship with others.

The numbers seem to be growing......I'm ready.....my friendships might be fewer but due to freedom of speech I say....good riddance.  Hope I'm not considered one of those....oh well.

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The Old Time Wild Wild Central Illinois

Do you ever wish you lived long ago?

Can you imagine what it was like when our ancestors first came to this little settlement?  Full of prairie dogs, muskrats, snakes, mink, gophers, fox, and wild everything, including Indians.  Our ancestors had to ford and navigate the rivers on flatboats to get long distances and ride for days on horses or in wagons through snow storms, rain, sleet and the heat of summer.

The women must have been overworked, having to spin thread from what they could find, including flax and other plants, and then weaving cloth.  Then with the cloth, they made clothing.  Of course there was cooking over open fires or in ovens made from stone and without the benefit of the ingredients we all take for granted. 

After the settlement of our town was built up I imagine there were saloons with swinging doors just like the old wild west where men bellied up to the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey.  The deputies probably wore hats and kept the area in order.  You might have seen a barber chair sitting in the corner of the saloon.  We know that in Greenview there was a bank in a store. 

 But would you have wanted to ride a horse all day just to get from one place to another....or drive a wagon through 2 feet of mud on a cow path since roads weren't paved and in many cases the roads might have been a path from one place to another.  And think about the hot clothes in summer.  Women in long dresses, including a long apron on top of the dress.  Men in heavy buckskin pants and shirts.  And there was winter to contend with....no heavy rubber boots like we have today.  No heavy parkas.  Just homemade items with the materials they could garner. 

Would you have wanted to be there?  Not me.  But I sure praise my ancestors for doing what they had to do so I could come into existence.  But when I think about it, my children's children and their children will look back and think their great great grandma (Me) had a hard living.  Those kids will probably be flying spaceships on a day to day basis and will have robots which will do all the work...I think I will return in my second life about that time!

Vintage Springfield

Building Lincoln Library 1901

Springfield Centennial Building 1925

Springfield City Hall, 1925

Capitol Motel, Springfield, 4129 Peoria Road

Coney Island Sign

Springfield Fiat Allis Plant

You can click on most photos to get an enlarged view.

Thought For The Day

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed

people can change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that has.

--Margaret Mead

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More History of the County

From the book: The History of Menard County and Mason Counties - 1879

kjhJacob Boyer and James Meadows, who were brothers-in-law, came to Sugar
Grove, from the American bottom, in the spring of 1819. They had lived a year
or two on Wood River, in the American bottom, two and a half miles from Alton
meadows, brought one wagon drawn by two horses, and, in addition, one milk
cow, a yoke of yearling steers, that had been broken to work when sucking-
calves, and some thirty head of hogs. Boyer brought three horses, two milk
cows, and perhaps a yoke of oxen. About the same day that Boyer and
Meadows came, the Blane family, consisting of four brothers, one sister and
the mother, came to the same grove. This family was of Irish blood, and it
was from them that the "Irish Grove," in the east part of the county, received
its name. The Blanes brought two two-horse teams and six or seven yoke of
oxen. Boyer and Meadows erected a cabin on the south side of the grove,
which was occupied by Boyer, and Meadows put up a "three-faced camp " on
the ground now occupied by the " Sugar Grove Cemetery." Before the Blanes
settled there, they had been camped for a few days in the "Irish Grove," as
it has since been called ; it is therefore very probable that they were camped in
the county when Clary settled at Clary's Grove.
The Blanes also " took claims," erected cabins and began business in earnest.
These were the first settlers on the east side of the Sangamon River.

Before giving an account of the further settlement of Sugar Grove, it may
not be amiss to relate an incident in the early history of this settle-
ment, illustrating the fact that human nature is ever the same, and that
even in this early day men had need of civil courts. It will be necessary to
explain that although the trouble began when but few families had settled
there, it was some time before it culminated in a lawsuit, as there were no
courts of justice in reach till some time later.

As stated above, Meadows brought two horses, thirty head of hogs and two year-
ling calves with him to the grove. Not many months elapsed until both the horses
were missing, and the hogs were all strayed away and lost. Not a great while
after these misfortunes, one of the little oxen was found dead in the woods.
Diligent search was made in every direction for the missing stock, as they
could not be replaced without great trouble and expense, owing to the distance
from any older settlement. In his anxiety, Mr. M. applied to a fortune-teller,
who strolled through the new settlement, practicing his art, as the ancient
troubadour used to stroll from village to village, to rehearse the deeds of his
heroes. This seer told Mr. Meadows that the horses were in the possession of
the Indians, and that he would recover them after awhile, though but one at a
time. Sure enough, the horses were found in the hands of the Indians,
who said they had traded for them from a Frenchman. The horses were so
jaded that they were of no service, and soon after died. The hogs, he was
told, had gone down the Sangamon River, where one-half of them had been
eaten by a " squatter," and the rest he would recover. Meadows followed the
directions given, found the cabin of the suspected settler, but found none of the
hogs. He, however, traded for a frying-pan from the worthy citizen, the one,
he supposed, in which his hogs had been fried ; but the remainder of the hogs
were found as had been predicted. The fortune-teller further said that the ox
came to its death at the hands of one of Mr. M.'s neighbors, in the following
manner : The neighbor was making rails in the timber, his coat lying on a log
near by, when the poor calf came browsing along, and, spying the coat, he
determined to make a meal of it. The laborer, seeing his coat about to be
swallowed, ran and struck the brute on the loins with his maul, and the blow
proved sufficient to kill it on the spot.

Although this was only the statement of a superstitious fortune-teller, yet
it was believed strongly enough to induce Mr. Meadows to begin a suit against
the accused party, which was in the courts for several years, cost a vast sum of
money, and created a feud between two families, which lasted to the second gen-
eration. This is spoken of as the first lawsuit of any importance in the county; and
 also as illustrating a superstitious belief in fortune-tellers that at that time was
 almost universal.


Thought For The Day

Some people are like slinkies; useless, but

entertaining as they fall down the stairs.

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Are You Going Green?

How to go green or at least act like it!

Are you heading towards saving this earth by going green?  Well I think we all are but, sometimes we just don't know we are.  If you plant a live green plant in your yard, you're helping the environment as plants provide oxygen to the air....and if they're big enough they can provide shade so that other plants will grow.  So be a "Mr. Rogers kind of neighbor" and plant a huge old plant so that your neighbor can come over and take advantage of your "greening of American" by coming over to your yard to sit under the plant's shade.

  Plants help to provide moisture to the environment.  This moisture might mean that your yard gets more rain than others, so don't plant too many new ones.   And, of course don't forget that by providing all of these mentioned things, the air temperature might be a bit lower.....I hope this is only for summer because I sure don't want it any lower in the winter.

But planting things isn't the only way to go green.  Your shreds from your paper shredder can be worked into your ground, providing much richer soil, plus it acts as a mulch for your plants.  But dang ....it would be my luck that some info hacker would probably come into my garden and dig up my shreds and put all of those tiny little strips together to get my credit card information....but wow are they going to be surprised....because all that my credit cards bills show is that they can't steal nothing cause their ain't nothing left to steal .... "rejected" is what they will get.  But maybe they could pay the bill when they get those account numbers.

One of the best ways to go green is to stop eating out and stop bringing those non-composting containers home. If you're like me, you are probably tired of seeing those Styrofoam containers sticking out of the ground all over your yard .... left from your efforts to bury all those dang things.   Plus if you stop eating out, the weight you lose can be put on the garden soil as fertilizer.....and just think.....you will need to plant more plants so you will have more veggies to eat and think of the shade and moisture you will have in your yard with 354 tomato plants growing in your garden plus 86 bean plants that climb bean poles....and if you plant the giant bean plants, the jolly green giant might even visit your house.  That's going green!

Some of you just might not be ready to "go green" nor ready to follow my "sound advice" but, in case you are one of these people, I would advise that you might want to at least pretend you are going green.  Buy some plastic plants and stick them in the ground.....bury your take-home containers a bit deeper or heck bury them deep in the garbage bags so your neighbors don't see them sticking out of the garbage bags and send them to the dump so that they have to contend with them.  Green is good....but green money is better.  That's why I plant my paper shreds, I'm trying to grow paper money.

You do know this is a poor imitation of a spoof??!!

The History of Menard County
Taken from the History of Menard and Mason Counties - 1879 book.

"Considerable settlements were made in other parts of old Sangamon County
before any were made in the limits of what is now Menard. The reader will
bear in mind that this county had no existence till 1839, hence the history of
the early settlement and development of the county is connected with the
history of Sangamon.

Although the white man had frequently visited the "Sangamon country,"
as it was called, and had traveled over the beautiful prairies, and explored the
deep woods of this locality, yet we have no evidence that any one ever settled
in the area of the county prior to April, 1819. The first settler, according to
the best evidence we have, was Mr. John Clary, who came with his family at
the date just named. He settled in a grove in the southwestern part of the
county, near the present site of the village of Tallula. This grove was ever
after known by the name of its first settler, and is to-day noticed on the maps
and known far and near as Clary's Grove. Mr. Clary settled on the south-
west quarter of Section 32, Town 18, Range 7, the land being now owned by
George Spears, Sr. Mr. Clary built what was known to the pioneer settlers as
a "'three-faced camp," that is, he erected three walls, leaving one entire side
open. These walls were built about seven feet high, when poles were laid across
at a distance of about three feet apart, and on these a roof of clapboards was
laid, and these boards were held on by weight-poles laid on them. These
boards were some four feet in length, and from eight inches to a foot wide, and
were split out of oak timber with an instrument called a froe. No floor was
laid in the camp, nor was there any such thing as window or chimney con-
nected with the structure ; neither would you see such thing as a door-shutter
in all this edifice. Now, these are facts, and we doubt not that the young men,
who are now growing up, wonder what the people did for light, and where their
fires were built, as well as how they found ingress and egress. The one side
of the structure that was left out answered all these purposes. Just in front
of the open side was built a large log heap, which served to give warmth in
cold weather, and for cooking purposes all the year round. Abundance of
light was admitted by this aperture, while on either side of the fire were ample
passage-ways for passing in and out. We describe this camp thus particularly,
because in such as this the early settlers spent the first few years of their
sojourn in the new country. Mr. Clary had a family when he first came Judge Robert Clary, recently deceased, was six weeks old when the family settled in the grove.

The large and respectable family of Clarys, now living in
the county, are the descendants of this pioneer. Not long after Clary settled
in the grove, Mr. Solomon Pratt, with his family, took up their residence in
a cabin on Section 3, Town 17, Range 7, this being in the vicinity of Mr.
Clary. During the fall of 1819 and the spring of 1820, emigration came in
pretty rapidly, and, there being no record kept of the order in which they
came, and the names of some being forgotten, it is impossible to get the detail
correct. About this time, the Armstrongs, Greens and Spears came, a more
detailed account of whose settlement will be given in another place. "

Recipe
Do you like Guacamole but don't know how to make it?  I love the stuff and found a recipe quite some time ago so that I can make my own. 

Guacamole
3 peeled & seeded avocados
1 small tomato diced small (I use Roma so less seeds)
1 small onion minced small
2 cloves of garlic - minced
2 tablespoons Lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
4 drops of hot sauce (I use sriracha the best because it has flavor)

Use a fork or an electric mixer to mash the avocados and then add the rest of the ingredients.  Let is sit for a couple of hours to blend the flavors.  If your avocados aren't soft put them in a brown paper bag and put them in a dark cabinet for a couple of days to ripen and soften.  Serve with tortilla chips, put on a taco salad....will keep a few days.  Can half the recipe for smaller amount by using two avocados....and add more of anything else you want.

Thought For the Day

You're born an original.

Don't die a copy.

--John Mason

The corporate world is falling behind.  It's still in the 1980's with the striped ties and maybe even those inch wide ties.  And the corporate woman's world is still using those 1970 cloth belts with their attire.  Isn't it time for the corporate world to become hip and in the real world!?!?!?

In today's world, a lot of corporate persons could work at home using their personal computer to keep in contact with their worrisome employer, who probably believes the employee will still be in bed at noon and won't really be working and slaving away at home.  That's bunk!

Actually the big corporation could probably save money....fewer parking costs for the employees....fewer missed days.....increased productivity due to fewer interruptions in the office environment.

But those employers just don't want to trust employees at home.  And when they don't, I say set up the web cam schedule so the employee has to be in front of the old web camera at least once every hour....the employer will see that by far the majority of employees will be dedicated at home workers simply because they won't want to lose their new found freedom from the office crap.

I say dump the 1980's striped and pencil thin ties and the 1970 cloth belts....let your hair down Mr./Mrs. Employer ....if there is any way you can..... let those employees stay home and work.....and if you have to, require at least one day in the office per week!  Update your wardrobe corporate America....and get with it!

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10,000 and Counting!

Yes folks, this blog is now a 10,000 reader blog!

Thanks to you my readers, my goal of 10,000 has been reached.  What an accomplishment!  And I couldn't have done it without you.

So pat yourself on the back for putting up with this trailer park humor and history on the run.....as someone recently put it...."the walking, posting "Greater Greenview Area Museum".....of natural history I might add....LOL.  There will always be history...for each day we are on this side of the grass (the right side I might add), when tomorrow comes, we all created history from yesterday's happenings.  Let us all continue to make history and be on this side of the grass for a long time to come!

Old Tyme Greenview

Begg's Elevator in Greenview

1910-1920 era

Some tidbits about some old time residents and happenings:

In 1870 Andre Gaddie moved to Greenview from his farm, entering the grocery business with G. G. Spear and continuing in the stock shipping business.  Mr. Gaddie had traveled extensively and was a very interesting character, of Scotch descent.

Jerman Tice, of west of town, was fatally injured at the railroad crossing near his home when the passenger train struck his wagon in which he was riding.  He passed away October 18, 1895.

1850 was the year of the historical hail storm, when hail piled up fifteen feet deep in banks, on May 27, and was used to make ice water for the picnic crowd at Sugar Grove on the 4th of July, the hail being perfectly insulated by the mass of leaves and dirt which had washed over it. 

Mr. Henry Marbold bought the land south of here which was the original claim of Charles L. Montgomery in 1850, and with his sister Miss Annie Marbold and their father, John Marbold came there to live.  John Marbold invested in farm land situated near Salt Creek bottom.  H. H. Marbold as he came to be designated took an important part in getting the farming section settled up with reliable thrifty men, many of them from Germany, and these men and their descendants have been a decided asset to the community.

For hog stealing and changing brands, $50.00 to $100.00 fine and from twenty to thirty nine lashes with a leather strap, if a first offense; for a second offense the thief was whipped and then was branded for life.

Sugar Grove announced in 1849 that F. T. Cowen had invented a new plow, which was made without a weld, had two shovels and two moulds, and which could be changed from a one horse to a two horse plow.

Venison and wild turkey were on the market in 1844, the former worth 75 cents per "saddle"; wild turkeys were from 25 to 50 cents apiece, chickens $1.62 per dozen, eggs 10 cents, butter 10 cents, lard 5 cents, apples 50 cents per bushel, potatoes 25 cents, turnips 20 cents and coffee 7 1/4 cents per pound, flour $3.50 per barrel, whiskey 21 cents per gallon.

Thought For The Day

The future belongs to those who believe in

the beauty of their dreams.

--Eleanor Roosevelt

There is always a solution to the problem.....I once read a story about a farmer and a lawyer.  This fancy dancy lawyer puts on his hunting bib and tucker and drives in his fancy car to the countryside....he parks in a lane in the middle of two fields.  He takes out his gun and starts walking toward the woods through an open field.

The owner of the field property comes by and sees the fancy car sitting in his farm lane and really gets mad because he didn't give anyone permission to be there.  The farmer suddenly hears a shot and hurries toward the noise.  He sees the lawyer on the other side of the fence with his shotgun poised and suddenly sees a duck fall to the ground on the farmer's property.

The fancy dancy lawyer hunter scrambles over the fence and grabs the duck which has been shot and runs back and jumps the fence to be on the other side.  The farmer walks up and says "give me my bird"....the lawyer says "No it's mine, I shot it".  The farmer said "but it fell on my land so it's mine".

The lawyer said "I'm a lawyer and I'll sue you and you will lose the duck anyway".  The farmer said "we don't do that here in farm country, we use the three kick rule".  The lawyer said "ok what is this three kick thing".

The farmer said...."I kick you three times as hard as I can, then you kick me and then we keep doing it until one of us wears out".  The lawyer said "ok".....so the farmer kicks the lawyer in the groin with great force....then as he is bent over, kicks him in the head, and as the lawyer straightens up the farmer kicks him in the stomach. 

The lawyer tries to speak but is in great pain, but manages to say...."ok now it's my turn".  The farmer says "No I  give up, you can have the duck".

A good lesson in life....if you are a lawyer and going hunting, make sure that dang duck falls on the land where you stand.  And if it lands over the fence, be sure you look in front of you, in back of you and to both sides for the farmer.....and if you see him, you might want to run.  Forget that duck....wild duck tastes like crap anyway and you are forever digging out buckshot!  





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The old Mansion in the Village

Is the purchase possible or a dream which can't be realized?

I was a little kid and my dad started farming the Miller farmland which included the old mansion.  My dad actually started farming part of the Miller land in the mid to late 1940's and then in the mid 1950's the mansion and surrounding land and stockyards was added.  My dad's hired hands lived in the mansion and my dad tried to keep up with repairs on his own but the owner didn't want to spend any money.  I remember my dad talking to the owner and telling him he needed to do this and that, but my dad's pleas to do maintenance went unheard.

The property starting falling into disrepair.  When my dad had the farm, the butcher block was still in the butcher shop and all of the buildings were intact except for the furnace building which had fallen in before my dad took over the farm.  When my dad's farm hands moved out, us kids had to go clean up the messes.  And frequently my dad had hog fries/cow fries (rocky mountain oyster) stag parties in that house.  He would furnish the food and the beer and men would come from near and far to eat, drink and play poker.  Guess who had to clean up before and after....yep you guessed right.

Now that same mansion is in a state of disrepair....the current owner wants a fortune for it....and the association which is formed from interested history loving people, want to buy it.  But......can they?  Is this project too much for this association to take on???  Can they get the owner down in price and bought before someone else buys it????

Currently there have been two offers from outsiders and a couple from the association....one offer from someone who lives about 40 miles north of here....and one from a couple from the northern part of the state.  And of course the Association has put in an offer which is an amount much less than one of these offers.  The Association now knows that the purchase and the plans to build a working farmstead might just be a pipe dream.  This dream may not ever come to full fruition.

If they could just find 100 "people groups" who would come together and give $1000 each, they would have enough money to purchase it and start with the renovation.  If they found 1000 people to give $1000 they would have a million.  But can they???  And can they in time???  I'm beginning to wonder about this dream coming true.

But look on the bright side....if they don't, they may be able to work with any new buyer....and if that isn't possible, they might be able to focus more on the betterment of the village....it needs help...it needs businesses....I think it needs a library...perhaps a library/museum combination.  Anything to pull it back together.  With those of us who have lots of history material that's valid and also with the amount of memorabilia, a museum would be so grand....and a library would perhaps re-establish the town's worth and value and continuance.  There are lots of grants possible to do such a thing....it just needs focus.

Now the mansion stands alone and waiting.  Will the new owner be someone who cares or someone who buys it for a tax write-off and really doesn't care.  The pipe dream is drifting!

Death in the Village
On Monday evening, January 16, 2012, the village lost another long time resident and former businessman.  George Baugher died as the result of a brain tumor.  He will be sadly missed but his spirit will remain alive in those who knew him.

Vintage Springfield Fires, Continuation

The following are old newspaper articles about fires which occurred in Springfield in the early years.  Apparently there were some spectacular fires in those days...due to lack of equipment and water sources.  But we must take our hats off to those who were fireman in those days.  I have more fire stories and pictures and will put them in a future post.  Hope you enjoy the content of these articles.


Feb, 1899
Three Burned To Death.
Fatal Fire in a Springfield (Ill.) Boarding House.
Springfield, Ill., Feb. 4.-In a boarding house fire to-day three persons were burned to-death. The dead are MRS. EVA WITHEY, proprietor of the boarding house; MISS HELEN ROSE, and J.C. HALL.
When the fire occurred the house contained eighteen boarders, nearly all of whom were asleep. MRS. WITHEY, after arousing the boarders and getting her four children out, went back into the house to assist J.C. HALL, eighty years old, who occupied a room on the second floor. She was not seen alive afterward. Her charred body was removed from the ruins. MRS. WITHEY was well-known throughout the State, having been State President of the Daughters of Rebecca. MISS HELEN ROSE was a sister of Mrs. John McCreery, wife of the proprietor of the St. Nicholas Hotel. J.C. HALL was a retired merchant.
The origin of the fire is supposed to have been a defective flue. The loss is probably $10,000; partially insured.

                                                                                   ******

November 1894
Hostler, Horses, and Buildings Burned.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Nov. 24.---Fire this morning destroyed the rear portion of Little & Sons' livery stable, the Armory Hall of Company C, Fifth Regiment; Utley's wholesale drug store, and Swift & Co.'s warehouse. Eighty-five horses in Little & Sons' barn were burned to death.
George Brewer, a hostler employed in Little & Sons' barn, was burned to death. The origin of the fire is supposed to be incendiary. The total loss will reach $125,000.

                                                                                ******

March, 1876
Burning of a Theatre.
The Springfield, Ill., Opera House Destroyed By Fire-An Accident Which Probably Prevented A Serious Calamity In The Future.

Springfield, Ill., March 17.-At an early hour this morning it was discovered that the opera house in this city was on fire. In a few moments Capt. John Freeman with his engine was on the spot, and the other steamers soon appeared, but the flames had already gained such headway that the fire department were powerless to save the building. The scene was a brilliant one, and notwithstanding the early hour, thousands of persons came from their houses to witness the work of destruction. At one time the entire block of buildings seemed in great danger, and the employees in the Journal office began moving out the more valuable portable articles in that establishment. Fortunately however the wind was from the east, and the sparks and flames were carried in another direction. But this fact placed the county jail in great danger, and it was found necessary to remove the prisoners to another place for safety. After a hard struggle the department got the fire under control, though not until the theatre was entirely destroyed. The building was erected some ten years ago by a German citizen, who soon after failed. Mr. Jacob Bunn, the rich banker, of this city, then came into possession, but it has never been considered a paying investment. For several years it has been looked upon as an unsafe building, and in any other city it would long since have been condemned as unfit for public use. Only a few years ago, at the time of a military reunion, one of the outer walls settled to a considerable extent and with such a noise as to create a decided panic in the large audience. United States Senator Oglesby, who, with his charming wife, was among the spectators, was among the first to gain the street but how he ever got there the Senator was never able to explain. Subsequently there was another scene of excitement on the occasion of a portion of the gallery giving way. It then became generally understood that the building was unsafe, and though several expert architects pronounced otherwise, the people believed the rumor and seldom ventured inside the structure. Its original cost was in the neighborhood of $150,000. It was the only decent hall in the city, and was used for holding state conventions for both parties. It was here the conventions were to be held this summer, but its destruction will doubtless compel the State Central Committee of either party to agree upon some other locality. The occupants of the stores on the ground floor lost everything, as follows: H.E. Mueller & Bros. Wholesale liquors and cigars, loss $25,000, insured for $2,500; F. Schultz Drugs, loss $3,000, no insurance; A. Spiers & Bro., Saloon, loss $1,000, no insurance; N. James Musical Instruments, loss $3,000, uninsured. The origin of the fire is unknown. There had been an exhibition in the hall last night by the children of the ward schools, for the benefit of the Centennial educational fund, and the custodian says that the gas and heat were turned off immediately after the close of the entertainment.

                                                                      *******

Early Springfield Fire Equipment .... no wonder so many houses/businesses totally burned.  Unknown date.

Thought For The Day

The following goal related quotes appropriately fit the dream

of those connected with the old mansion....the goal sometimes must adjust...and we must all realize that.

If you want to make you dreams come true,

the first thing you must do is wake up.

--J. M. Power

One half of knowing what you want is knowing

what you must give up before you get it.

--Sidney Howard

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

--Diana Scharf Hunt

Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion.

You must set yourself on fire.

--Arnold Glasow

The dream is there but is the stamina, the hope, the ability

to cope with indecision and a possible let down.

-- Me

Today is a day of mourning for the village.  As we reflect on this history of our town, all of us who have and do live here make up the composition of this little village in Central Illinois .... among the cow pastures and the pig lots and the farm land , the community has stood for a long time and we all have hopes it will remain for many more lifetimes.

Without those of who are Greenviewanites...those who do live here now and those who have lived here....without us and our ancestors and predecessors, the village would not exist nor would it have existed ever.  It has and it does and we will all remember those who made it possible.

Thank you for visiting and thank you for remembering.