An American Kids Experience

Theodore L. Henry - Low Point, Illinois 

Portrays - 

Commanding officer Col. Dudley Wickersham.

Ted retired from the State of Illinois as a nuclear scientist and devotes his time to expanding the membership of the Regiment. He and his wife Dawn live on 2 wooded acres growing several gardens. Together Ted and Dawn have 5 children, and 7 grandchildren. Ted has said, "now that my time is my own, I want to do some additional research on the history of the Civil War, and our regiment in particular, visiting the locations listed on our battle flag."

You can get additional information a10thillinoisvolcavalry.com.  There will be an encampment on Friday night at the Christian County Historical Society.  Saturday morning there will be a re-enactment in the open field behind the Country Side Vet Clinic.  Sundaymorning there will be an authentic Civil War era worship service on the grounds of the society.  The encampment will remain on the grounds throughout the celebration.

The oldest building on the property of the CC Historical Society was found by Mr. and Mrs. John Curry on the property they owned in Shelby County, IL, approximately 4 miles east and one mile south of Shelbyville.  The Curry’s were in the process of tearing down an old 2-story house on the property and they discovered this Log House beneath the kitchen walls.

The State Curator, Lowell Anderson, estimates the Log House was built between 1820 – 1840.  The Curry’s donated the house to CCHS in the late 1970’s.  In 1975, the Taylorville Elementary School children donated $760 to use for furnishing the Log House.  The furnishings are classified as “primitive” and the purchases were approved and authentication was received from the Illinois State Archives.

For More information please call:

Jodi Heberling  217-820-8253

Jeanine Biondolino 217-287-7719

or Linda Blakley 217-824-4684

Join us October 4th and 5th, on the Taylorville, IL. square or on the grounds of the Christian County Historical Society. A listing of events at the CC Historical Society follows:

Click here for a printable PDF of the above Events schedule

click here to Goto the 175th Celebration website 

Click here for a printable PDF of the above 

Click here for a printable PDF of the above

NEW BOOK AVAILABLE

It is with great pleasure that I've gotten to correspond with book author Rhonda M. Kohl. About two years ago she had called the Christian Co. Historical Society asking if we might have a photo of William Skiles, (a Taylorville, IL. native in which the Society had published, a now out of print book titled "Letters to Home"), so that she could use the photo in her new book "Prairie Boys Go To War". I looked, and yes we did which I copied and sent to her.

Rhonda informed me a couple of weeks ago that her book "Prairie Boys Go To War" had been printed and was available for sale on these sites:

Southern IllinoisUniversity Press

AMAZON

About the Fifth Illinois Cavalry between the years 1861 to September 1865.

Rhonda offers the only modern, comprehensive analysis of a southern Illinois regiment during the Civil War.

There is also a 'Roster' listing available (click on Roster) for viewing.

Rhonda M. Kohl is also on Facebook and has a Facebook page for her book: 

The Prairie Boys Go to War: The Fifth Illinois Cavalry, 1861-1865

Please 'Like' on the FB pages to have updates available on your FB page

Christian Co., IL. Historical Society President Jodi Heberling answers questions about the 'NEW' CC History Book project

1-) What are you hoping people submit for the book?
     We want roots, history of who and why your family has resided in Christian County

2-) What do you have so far for the book?
     We have about 30 stories /family histories turned in and continue to have more arriving daily. We have had a couple of organizations inquire and are working getting their articles together. I am excited in anticipation of some of the stories that will arise from this publication.


3-) What have people turned in?
     At this point most have been Family trees. Lists of who came and why and then how the family's married and reproduced creating  the ancestors of Christian County. I find it interesting that people are concerned about in laws and outlaws from their roots. People should not worry about those negative things from their past kin, but instead be excited in how they turn out in spite of the cattle rustler or bank robber in their family tree. Times were different and survival was not always easy!


4-) Whats the most interesting/odd thing that someone has turned in?
     Honestly I have not had time to read any of the stories that have been submitted. But I am very confident that there will be many surprises revealed with the publication of the book.


5-) What type of family history do you want people to include?
     Discretion is necessary but facts are facts. This book is for the people of Christian County and will be made of the articles that are submitted by those people. Life is not always pretty,  it really does come with goods and beds!


6-) What kind of pictures are you looking for?
     Interesting!!!!


7-) Where can people find out more information about the book?
     We sent out a mailing to 16,000 households in Christian County. Our goal is to reach everyone who is residing in Christian County. We have fliers available at the Museum and Court house clerk's office. We welcome anyone to stop out at the museum on Thursday -Saturday 10 a.m. -3:00 p.m.
Click Here for the Flyer


8-) Anything else you want people to know about the book?
     There is much talk about print books being a thing of the past, but I believe that there will be a place for this type of history books and print is the best medium to use.


Please check the 'Follow This Site' button on the right & share this site address with all your friends 

April 2012 NEWSLETTER

Click here for the link to access our Newsletter. Please feel free to print it out / share with your friends / etc.

Please keep in mind that the Christian Co., IL. Historical Society & Museum is funded thru donations Only – if you are lead to donate / join, you can do so by sending a check to our address.

Beginning April 5 we will be open Thursday’s thru Saturday’s 10am – 3pm.

Do you need Help with finding your family for our NEW Christian Co. History book?

Or wanting to look for your Christian Co. roots?

The Christian Co., IL. Genealogical Society has their Library in the Pence Building of our complex for your use, and provides free wireless internet service for your use.

The CCGS Library has a very extensive collection (over 60,000 books / documents / microfilm, area newspapers, probate records / donated Family Histories / school Year Books / etc.) and will be very willing to help you with your research during the opening hours.

You may contact the CCGS by e-mail ccgs28@gmail.com or calling 217.824.6922

GUEST Speaker & Mosticholli Lunch at Annual Meeting

Sunday March 25, 2012 

Mosticholli Lunch served from 11:00am-1:00 pm

Short Annual Meeting – 

Guest speaker beginning at 1:30 p.m. - 

Civil War speaker JEROME KOWALSKI 

“Who’s love for the civil war began in grammar school and continues on to the present."

Jerome has been re-creating the character of General George H. Thomas for twenty years and makes between 35 and 40 appearances a year.  in the past twelve months he has spoken to over 25,000 children and adults on civil war.

Major General George Henry Thomas was born in Virginia, but during the Civil War, remained faithful to the oath that he took as a cadet at The United States Military Academy at West Point.  There he pledged his allegiance to the Constitution of the U.S. (not the flag that our children pledge their allegiance to at school in the morning).  He promised to defend and protect it against all foes foreign and domestic.  When Virginia left the Union three days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter - George Henry Thomas remained faithful to that oath he took years before. 

Mosticholli $7.50 for adults $4.00 youth under 12

Desserts will be available for a donation.

NEW Christian Co., IL HISTORY Book
This year will be great for the Christian County Historical Society and Museum. Jodi Heberling has been working hard to coordinate and bring the Museum up to today’s standard’s. But realizes she cannot do it all. It will take the whole county working to preserve this great resource Christian County has been blessed with!
          Jane Long and Jodi Heberling have teamed up with ‘Acclaim Press’ to bring a ‘New’ Christian County History book spanning the years 1839-2013. (The first history book in 46 years.) They welcome anyone who would like to become involved to contact them! If this is to become a true County history we need your help . . . Write and submit an article about your family for inclusion in this publication. And include at least one photo.


Click here for a PDF of the Brochure

Treasure Chest

It's not that often that you find a mysterious chest tucked away in a corner. During the inventory on the Owaneco Train Depot my fellow volunteer Jon Meyer and I came across this seemingly ordinary trunk.

Because we were doing an inventory, we needed to open it up and catalog the contents. What we found inside was a pleasant treat!

Inside the chest we found some family photos, a quilt, and some old photographs of a mysterious shop. Besides the information in the photos, we had nothing else to go on. However, the photos were remarkably preserved. We just had to do a little detective work to figure out more about this shop and its owner.

With a little help from genealogy meister Chuck Courtwright, we began our information quest. As luck would have it, one of the photos gave us a name and shop description: Henry Biermann - Tire and Top Shop. With name in hand we turned next to ancestry.com to get a time/location for Henry Biermann. Markings on one of the photos gave us a general time-frame covering the early 19th century. We found one matching entry for a Henry Biermann in Taylorville, IL. Other information, such as the name of the wife and children confirmed our match.

When doing genealogy research of your own, be sure to widen your search by trying out different name combinations. For example, Henry Biermann's name was listed as: Beirmann, Biermann, and Bierman.

Then we began to research in the genealogical archives located on site. Looking through the local paper's microfilm near the time of Henry Beirmann's death gave us an obituary that provided invaluable information on the entrepreneur.

From that clipping we confirmed the number of children he had, the location of his shop, the name of his wife, his local charity work, and so much more! Who knew an old chest would contain such a wealth of information about Taylorville's history!

If you have your own adventure you would like to unravel, come drop by the Historical Society and Museum and Chuck can help you - or at least point you in the right direction!

- In case you are wondering, all the photos are being properly stored now, as well as digitized so they can be preserved. For more information about proper photo storage please see this great article. To see more resources from the Christian County Genealogical Society, click here.

The Wide World of Trains

Here in central Illinois trains are everywhere. Trains sometimes make me late or wake me up at night since I live close to a track. It's true that trains can be loud and inconvenient at times, but they also have a rich history. I know I see them every day and I hardly stop to to think about everything that goes into keeping a train running

The Christian County Historical Society and Museum is lucky enough to have the old train depot from Owaneco, IL on it's premises. Right now some volunteers are working on cleaning up the depot and researching some of the pieces.

If you remember the Owaneco train depot, or have knowledge about depots in general, please stop by the Historical Society and tell us about it! We would like to discuss trains with you! If you have old pictures, even better! We can scan them in while you visit.

Good turnout for the lecture

We had a fantastic turnout for the archaeological lecture on the 24th. 40 people were in attendance!!

Thanks to everyone who came out and heard Dr. Hambacher speak! Also, a special thanks goes out to Dr. Hambacher and the Rockies Express-East Pipeline Project for providing us with an information and entertaining evening.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Archaeological Lecture

I know I am supposed to be blogging about Dolls part 2 this time, but I wanted to let everyone know that the Christian County Historical Society is having a special event in a few weeks!

In case you didn't know September is Illinois Archaeological Awareness month. On Friday September 24th at 7:00 pm at the Historical Society Dr. Michael Hambacher will give a free lecture about the archaeological finds uncovered as a result of the Rockies Express-East Pipeline Project, which covered part of Central Illinois. Dr. Hambacher will talk mostly about finds associated with Woodland and Archaic peoples.

Also, if you want to come early and get a tour of the grounds (suggested donation is $2 per person) we would love to have you come on down! You can have a chance to see all the wonderful objects housed at the Historical Society. I know Chuck and I at least will be out there early (5 pm at the latest).

For more information about the lecture, feel free to e-mail the Historical Society at cchs254@gmail.com.

P.S. I'll be brining cookies - let that sway your vote as it will!

Dolls Part 1 (of 2)

Researcher’s Caveat: I’m an archaeologist by training and I’m currently finishing my master’s thesis in the subject. That said, I’m not used to researching whole objects; it’s such a refreshing experience! Although I’m no expert in antique identification, this blog will attempt to chronicle the process of identifying an object from start to finish. My preliminary assessments are just my best-educated guesses and I will provide all the sources I used when I can.

If any of you have any information about a particular object or a research source that can help me out in the process it will be most appreciated! Research is always a work in progress! Also, if you are handling antique dolls of your own you need to be aware of the damages simple things like your hands and sunlight can do to your collections. To help you take the best care of your dolls I have included a link to an online source in preservation techniques called Preservation 101 in the left hand side of the blog.

I hope this will be a fun and informative read for you all!

Dolls are an iconic part of childhood. No matter if you had one of your own, or knew someone who had, chances are you have a childhood memory involving dolls. My favorite, for instance, is my best friend and me tormenting her little brother with our Barbie dolls. Aww, memories! What is your favorite doll memory?

Despite the fact that dolls are so commonplace, dolls are complex and come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. At the Historical Society we have dolls of all colors, kinds, and descriptions. Today we are going to research one that particularly caught my fancy.

Darling Hilda and accessories

Darling Hilda is just that - DARLING! I was initially amazed by this paper doll’s excellent condition! Darling Hilda had such whimsical and fashionable clothes that I could easily see how she would be a favorite with children of the day. The doll and her accessories came in a box dated from 1894 and sold by Tuck and Sons. I chose to highlight Darling Hilda first because it shows the power of identification marks in determining a doll’s origin.

I started the identification process by examining her box in great detail, which provided some exciting tidbits all on its own! The first picture is kind of hard to read so I have zoomed in on the box cover to help you follow along.

Besides the obvious name embellished across the top of the box, the container was also helpful in determining a date and a manufacturer – two things most doll collectors, or researchers of any kind, try to find out first. Date and manufacturer are so important because if you can identify these two variables it is easier to do more in-depth research. On non-paper dolls these marks might be anywhere, but they tend to be on the neck, the back, or the bottom of the foot of the doll. On paper dolls the best place to check is the box, if you have it, or the back of the doll.

The printing on the picture to the right is hard to read through the photo, but near Hilda’s green sleeve is a small cluster of words that say: DATE FEB. 20th arched over the year 1894. This date is likely the patent date and Darling Hilda may not have been produced precisely in that year. But, it's a good starting point since now we know that is the earliest possible date of manufacture. Let me just say it is a rarity to find your information laid out in front of you in such an easy manner! Thank god for capitalism and the need to brand and date everything!

The picture on the left comes from the base of the box. The lettering says:

Raphael Tuck & Sons

London Paris New York

Publishers to her Majesty the Queen

That small imprint lets us know that Raphael Tuck and Sons is the manufacturer of the doll. Now that a manufacture has been established, it’s easier to do research about the specific company. My information comes from Barbara Chaney Fergunson’s (1982) book The Paper Doll (see the references below). Tuck's company started in 1866 as a joint enterprise between Raphael and Ernestine Tuck. It turns out Tuck and Sons were a popular paper doll manufacturer and collector's have extensively researched their productions. Tuck's dolls have a similar look and seem to come with fashionable dresses (typically 4 dresses) and accessories (typically hats).

According to Ferguson (1982:74), Tuck and Sons produced more than just paper dolls; they pioneered the Christmas card, the scenic postcard, and the valentine card. They specialized in chromolithographs, oleographs, and lithographs – or as I like to think of it- paper. They began doing paper dolls in 1893 and continued to do so until 1940 when their headquarters were destroyed by bombing during WWII (Ferguson 1982:74).

Tuck and Sons’ style changed over the years and if you are an avid collector and can’t establish a production date you can look to certain stylistic differences to get a range. Anything from the cut and construction of the doll right on down to the style of clothing can help you date an object. If you are interested in the stylistic changes of Tuck and Sons, a good overview is found on pages 75 and 76 of Ferguson. My guess for Darling Hilda is that she was produced around the turn of the 20th century.

This concludes our look at Darling Hilda. I could go on and on – trust me – but I wanted it keep it simple, sweet, and to the point. I hope you learned some fun stuff and please share with me your doll stories!

Next Time – Dolls Part 2

We are going to research this fun guy right here!

Print Resources:

Ferguson, Barbara Chaney, 1982 The Paper Doll: A Collector’s Guide with Prices. Wallace-Homestead Book Company, Des,Moines.

Goodfellow, Caroline, 1993 The Ultimate Doll Book. Dorling Kindersley, London.

Herron, Lane R., 1998 Warman’s Dolls: A Value and Identification Guide. Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin.

Online Resources:

This blog is a good comprehensive doll guide that I would recommend if you are just starting out. They have just about everything covered.

This is a cute website with some very interesting articles.

This page tells how to protect and preserve your dolls. A must-read for all doll owners.

Welcome

Welcome to the Christian County Historical Society and Museum's blog!

In case you didn't know, the Christian County Historical Society (CCHS for short) is located in Taylorville, Illinois! If you don't know how to find us, take a look at the Contact Information tab on the left side for help.

We are a volunteer-run enterprise and if you are a history buff, or just looking for something fun to do, please contact us and we can find a way for you to help!

Now just what can you do at the CCHS you might ask? Well, we have several resources for you to enjoy!

First, we house an extensive genealogy collection managed by the Christian County Genealogical Society (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilchrgs/). If you are looking to start your own family tree, or even just to learn more about Christian County residents, you should stop on by or email the Genealogical Society at ccgs28@gmail.com to get started!

Next, we have a fantastic collection of objects from Illinois' past! Our collections are stored in 7 buildings. The majority of items range from the early nineteenth century (1800s) up to the modern day! We offer tours during normal business hours, with a suggested donation of $2 per person.

Here is just a sneak peak at some of the things you could see and learn about:

Currently the Historical Society is digitizing some of its material collections to put online. This blog will chronicle this process and provide information about some of the unique objects housed at the museum. Each post will have a theme and outline the history of some of the collections related to that theme. Also, in case you have a collection of your own you would like to research, we will post helpful identification and other resources so you can be your own history detective.

Next time we will take a look at dolls through the ages!