977.336 Su16 SUBLETTE, ILLINOIS, OUR BIT OF U.S.A. ills'! UAAAOiil, ... ^Oi.. t ^ HLHVET Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://archive.org/details/subletteillinoisOOilslsn 1857 SUBLETTE, ILLINOIS: OUH BIT OF U.S.A. Sublette Centennial August 17-18, 1957 1957 VAESSEN BROTHERS Serving this community since 1926 ■ Ml *. Chevrolet Sales & Service Standard Oil Products Philco TV & Appliances Phone 84 Sublette Our new Building Built in 1953 »0,f: _ .Ui^, U HP i Our first home built in 1926 Phone 32 • V. O. BONNELL Since 1943 Farm Equipment Oliver & New Idea Sales & Service "Thank you for helping us celebrate our Centennial/' Sublette 9 9 "Serving Sublette area Farmers since 1919" SUBLETTE FARMERS ELEVATOR CO. Dealers in Grain — Coal — Lumber — Building Material Feed — Fertilizer — Seeds — Tile — Fencing Grinding & Mixing L. J. Full, Manager Phone 61 Sublette, Illinois 9 7 {QenteHnial >>/ (Tune: America the Beautiful) I. Our forbears came from far away, a hundred years ago, For reasons of their very own, to Sublette, as we know. They toiled away, day after day, to make their homes appear; On fertile land, on timbered stand; their families they did rear. II. The Bettendorfs and Biebers, too, the Malachs, Haubs and Fluers, The Erbescs and Truckenbrods, the Hatches, Step'nitch peers. The Kuehnas, Hoffmans, and Burkardts, the Angicr, Oester group. The Rocmmichs then, with Glaser men, the Purdy, Bulfer troop. III. The Theisses and the Reises, too, the Dingeses and Fulls; The Rapps, the Vaessens, and the Longs, the Henkels, Beckers, Wolfs; The Lauers, Letls, Leffelmans, the Barton, Bansau band — All sawed and saved, all skimped and slaved, for us to hold the land. IV. With fortitude and fearlessness, with faith and trust in God, With honesty and humbleness, they hoed and plowed the sod. Oh, souls so strong, it won't be long, we'll lay our burdens down, To join the throng, in endless song, with founders of our town. V. To passersby, to those who fly, our village seems not much; But, though it's small, it's ours, our all; we're proud to call it such. Sublette, Sublette, our town, our town, God smile on thee we pray, And crown thy brow with blessings now, our bit of U. S. A. Mrs. Lillian A. Rapp Rev. Anthony J. Becker Reminiscing is alwavs a popular pastime, especially when one has so many wonderful things about which to reminisce. We of Sublette Township have a great deal to turn over in our minds today, as we dig deeply into the pockets ol our memories, and beyond into those of our ancestors, to relive within ourselves the events of the past century. It is most fitting, then, that oiue every hundred years the progeny of the pioneers take time out to do honor to its beloved tore lathers: to tread once more those early trails, to see again the smoke rising from the stone chimneys of the log cabins, to walk anew behind the wooden plow and the slow oxen breaking the prairie sod, to sit beside the spinning wheel and watch the making of the gar- ments that covered the backs of our ancestors, to hear still ringing the axes that brought low the trees which till then knew Indians as the only human beings, to stand amazed as the homes and hotels, the stores and public houses, the schools and churches, by virtue of human sweat and sacrifice, rise into the sky and ad- vertise to the whole world that men are making their homes in a new land. The canvas-covered Conestogas reach the end of the trail, their occupants overjoyed to select this little part of the world to make it their own. Reenacted are all the vicissitudes of lite — the bitter and the sweet, war and peace, death and life — from which no man can entirely escape, and by which all human events are measured. Their children and their children's children, and even to the third and fourth generations accept the choice of their parents. They are not only con- tent to remain where their ancestors settled, but they praise and revere the wis- dom of their selection. Today we honor the courage of our pioneers, their faith and trust in God, their steadfastness and industriousness, not only their aggressiveness but also their progressiveness, their tears and their laughter through poverty sometimes mingled with plenty, their determination to see their settlement reach the one-hundredth anniversary of its founding. A centennial celebration, however, means not only looking into the past. It means as well gazing into the future. It means taking the lessons of the past and applying them to all future times. It means accepting the "good old days" as only a beginning, only a bridge to greater future developments. It means not stopping, but always going forward and upward. It was with an abundance of personal satisfaction that I compiled this short history of Sublette Township and Village. For in so doing I have reviewed the story of my own German ancestors in America — and in Sublette. A sense of very real gratitude has rilled my heart toward these individuals. In such brevity as this, however, it is not possible to do justice to the history of our forefathers. Their greatest deeds have never been recorded by the hand of man; they have been interred with their memories in the cemeteries of our Township. But through the graciousness and generosity of many I have been able to bring to light a few of their glorious deeds. I have tried to present them to you in a worthwhile and readable fashion that thus recorded they might be passed on to all future genera- tions of Sublette. These — our forefathers and their feats -- are among my souvenirs. Fr. Anthony J. Becker „ Fr. Anthony J. Keeker Jl, mona mu s O U V e n 1 r S * •^ V & A*. V|V A vjv ill vjv Jfe ~ £& £?iss. — M;=. **I'c ^i<. ^t-c -2*1^ ^i'c ^ivs. 2*1^ jg 1^, »*£s. **i^ ^iss. ^aa as» ^TF* ^7^ ^f.^ *T^ ~7^ *^ij=* ^t~ ^3»^ ^*^ ^?? ^T?" %X& ~* W ~J& ^it^ Tjc EARLY SUBLETTE FIRSTS FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST permanent settler in township in 1837 — Sherman L. Hatch frame house built by Phineas Rust in 1839 postoffice called Brookfiehl — kept in 1840 in Daniel Baird's house church (Baptist) in 1843 — held in Jonathan Peterson's log house, school in Village in 1844. Mrs. Clute taught first summer school. township organization and adoption of name u Hanno" in 1849 blacksmith shop in 1850 built by man named McBirney railroad depot and warehouse in Village in 1854 residence in Village in 1855 built by Daniel Cook. stores in 1855 owned by A. L. Wilder and Jesse Hale saloon and hotel in 1856 built by Paul Lindstrom drug store in 1856 by J. B. Barton. grain elevator in 1874 owned by Fred Oberhelman Public Service Company tfe & ^LSm ^i^Sp -2?!^ jiVSm ^ItSm ^1/Z. ^SVSm *£l'Z. ^L'?. ^i<& .=?! > ^1* ^i'^. -ST^, ^'i<& u/ yyur (^t Its Location ^Jhis is ^ubtetL id tit UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY e AT UMANA'CHAMPMN V — KJur ^rrt One of the richest and most prosperous little villages of Lee County, in Northern Illinois, located about eight miles southeast of Am boy and nine miles northwest of Mendota, is Sublette. It is situated in the center of an ex- ceptionally well-to-do and thrifty farming community, and has been celebrated over the years because ot the great amount of gram shipped from its Township. Like many other early settlements around here, it was started before the middle of the nineteenth century. In the vicinity of Knox Grove settlers had founded homesteads in the late '30s, and log cabins broke the monotonous expanse of the prairie around the present little community in the early '40's. As one more township carved out of Old Inlet, Sublette joins Lee Center to the North. Bureau County bounds it on the South, with La Salle County forming half of the eastern boundary. The Township is that part of Lee County, formally known as number 19, north of range 11, east of the fourth meridian p. m. Soon after the organization of Lee County in 1839, the west half of the Township, then known as Hanno, was put with what was called May Town- ship. This was known as the Bureau precinct, the polls being at the home of Daniel Baird. The east part of the township was incorporated with part of what is now Brooklyn, with voting at Knox Grove. The inhabitants of Bureau precinct were eager to have the boundaries of the town correspond with those of the precinct. The com- missioners decided that the law would not allow it. ome Sublette, as a Village, however, was not established until 1854 when the Illinois Central Railroad came through, on the Main Line of Mid-America from South to North. It was made a station. The railroad, besides being a boon to the sc-ttlers in the way of freight, mail, and so forth, was held in considerable reverence by them, many never having seen steam cars or the roadbed on which they were drawn until the Illinois Central arrived. In 1909, Jacob Barton, the oldest living resident at that time, told this amusing incident: "At the time the railroad was being built, I was residing at the home of my father at Knox Grove. A neighbor of ours expected a hired girl to arrive over the new railroad from La Moille and asked if I wouldn't drive to the station and meet her. Although being naturally of a rather bashful disposition at that time, I agreed to and drove to the station. The depot was across the track, and never having seen a railroad before, I thought it might be dangerous to cross over, so waited until another fellow, who also wanted to meet the train, drove up, and asked him if he thought it dangerous to cross the steel rails of the track. We finally decided it was not, and not without a few qualms drove across the rails." Its Name The original name of the Township was Hanno; it was officially organized and christened in 1849- When the rail- road came in 1854, the depot was named SOUBLETTE, and the Village was also plotted by this name, later being changed to Sublette. Down through the years many have thought it took its name from the circumstances that that "Best Wishes on your 100th Birthday" SUBLETTE CREAMERY Manufacturers of Bakers Cheese, Creamed Cottage, and Butter Charles Cislak & Son Phone 45 Sublette, Illinois particular section ol the railroad was "sublet" in part by its original contractor. This suggestion, however, should have no consideration, since tins road was not sublet by the Illinois Central Railroad. Hence, it seems most likely that the name "Soublette" refers to a person rather than to an act. But as to who the individual tins "Soublette" may have been, from whom the I.CR.R. adopted the name for the new Village, there has been a great deal ol speculation. One conjecture, coniirmed by Clem Thompson of Free- port, is that the Village was named after a certain "Sub- lett" cited for bravery in the Black Hawk War. In casting about for uncommon names for their new stations, the Rail- road settled upon this name. Clem Thompson stated that this man is buried in a cemetery west of Freeport, at Kel- logg's Grove, in Stephenson County where a national monument has been erected to certain individuals killed in a skirmish in this Indian war. In an article appearing in The Mendota Reporter, July 4, 1940, John Barton not only confirms Thompson but becomes even more specific on the naming of Sublette. He stated that it was named after Thomas Sublett, who fought under Col. John Dement in Capt. Enoch Duncan's company against the Black Hawk Indians in the Battle of Kellogg's Grove on June 23, 1832. In this battle 23 white soldiers were killed and among them was Thomas Sublett. The following week, however, Ed Kreiter refuted this claim, but Mr. Barton followed it with more substantiating arguments the next issue. Another supposition is that it was named from one of the individuals at the time of high esteem in the employ of the Railroad. However that may be, it is quite certain that this "Soublette" was never a resident of the Township. There are various towns and villages throughout the United States by the same name. Especially of note are the ones of Kansas and Virginia, which are definitely derived from a family name. And almost as variant are the spellings of this family name: SUBLET, SUBLETT, SOUBLETTE, and SOBLET. Since we shall never know with absolute certainty the ori- gin of our Village's title, let us remain content in believing that its name has both an honorable and an heroic back- ground and has been deservedly applied to our home. Accordingly, by an act of legislature, approved February 18, 1857, it was enacted that the name of Hanno Township, in the County of Lee, be changed to Sublette Township. Honorable John V. Eustace, who was then a representative in the legislature in Illinois, was instrumental in making this alteration since the petition for such had been sent to him in the winter of 1856-1857. State Historical Monument at Scene of Indian War at Kellogg's Grove Stone Marker at Tomb of Thomas Sublett Killed in Battle at Kellogg's Grove, June 23, 1832 Its People In its very earliest days Sublette Township was inhabited by the sturdiest of settlers - - all of solid Christian back- ground. And to this day the sons and daughters of those old pioneers remain just as strong, industrious, thrifty, in- telligent, and honorable as their forefathers who now lie buried in the Township's cemeteries. The first white men on the scene were of New England stock, but in 1844 with the coming of Jacob Betz, the Germans in great numbers migrated here directly from the Old World to take up the business of farming. Even today the nationality of the Township is predominantly German. Its Indians The only tribe of Indians ever known to the Sublette people were the Pottawatomies, a branch of the Algonquian Family, under the leadership of old Shabbona. They used to ride to and from the swamp near Walnut Grove along the Chicago-Princeton Road, and so, being seen infrequent- ly, they were never any real problem for our early settlers. Moreover, Shabbona with his followers was an annual visi- tor for several years. He was a noble red man, and on ac- count of his friendship with the pioneers in the Black Hawk War in 1832, he was much endeared and respected by the white men. For further information on the Indians of this area con- sult The Biography of A Country Town: U. S. A., Chapter I. Its Early Market — Chicago In those days Chicago was the market. In common with all others of this section the settlers of Sublette Township were compelled to team there until the Illinois Central Rail- road came through. Bad roads, sloughs, swamps played havoc many times with their journeys. One of the remedies applied to prevent miring down was to place sacks of grain ahead of the wheels, drive over them, and after a long and tiresome effort, the wagon was gotten through, although much good grain was spoiled. Sometimes the driver had to unhitch his team and carry his load out of the slough on his back, and more than likely this process would have to be repeated several times during one trip. Often they would return home with a few trifles, the gross profits of an eight or ten-day trip. Groceries were generally all that could be brought back in exchange for grain. One of Reis' trading places was near the present site of the courthouse in Chicago. There for a long tim« was posted the sign "BEWARE! NO BOTTOM. " The pioneers would often go in companies of ten or more ox-teams, generally entering the city in the morning and coming out at night, thereby avoiding hotel bills. For a good load of wheat or dressed pork only a few dollars would be realized. Little or nothing was taken for expenses, and often a man would be cone a week or two without entering a house. Later Peru became the market center lor the people of this part oi Lee County. Tr.ncl was united that way and greatly accelerated by the laying of a plank road for several miles. This road was regarded with the same feeling of superiority over the old one as settlers in a favored locality esteemed the railroad when it came along and superseded the plank road. It was called the toll road and for a con- siderable while made Peru famous. At other times the farmers went long distances to get their grist ground. For several years they went to Green's mill at Dayton, and to other points on the Fox River. Its Roads and Trails The "Old Chicago Road" from Princeton ran through Sublette Township about one half mile south of Bureau Creek, nearly parallel with it. A part of another old state road from La Salle to Grand Detour in the halcyon days of the latter may be traced through the Township to this very day, through sections 17 and 18. The old Black Hawk Trail made by the army of 1832 on its trips to and from Ottawa, and also to and from Fort Wilbourn -- the old telegraph and state line between Dixon and Peru — entered the Town- ship at the northwest corner of section 30 and left near the center of the south line of the same section. The Township in the early days had so many state and county roads that you could not run amiss of one. Most of them died a natural death. The owners of the soil today would be astounded if such were now shown them as having "Welcome to Sublette" L P. BURKARDT Insurance Agency Phone 87 — Sublette been laid out as proposed great highways of the country. Its Terrain The soil of Sublette Township is good for agricultural purposes, being a black mold, except on sections <> and 7, which are mostly sandy. The surface is moderately undulat- ing, sufficient for drainage in nearly all parts. The Town- ship is well watered in either a wet season or a moderately dry one. In extremely dry seasons the inhabitants had to resort to the digging of wells. It, too, has its share of timberland. Nearly all of Knox Grove is in this Township along Bureau Creek on sections 24 and 25. In the northwest corner is a strip of Palestine Grove, covering part of three sections, 5, 6, and 7. Its Wild Game For years after the settlers arrived wild birds were still plentiful in the Township. Such were prairie chickens, wild ducks, geese, cranes, and many others. Some are seen here to this day. Wolves, too, were in abundance; often they made the night hideous with their howls, and woe to the foul, the small pups, little sheep or pigs that became their prey. Snakes of various kinds were found in the prairieland, and the rattlesnake also filled a prominent place. In 1848 Alpheus Crawford and companions killed a 400-pound bear north of Knox Grove. Its Cemeteries There are several burial places in the Township. The most important of these are the one at the Catholic Church and that on the land of N. and J. Peterson, known as the Peterson Cemetery. In both many of the original settlers are buried, one of whom in the latter is Jonathan Peterson. There is also the cemetery at the site of the Perkins Grove Catholic Church. Near Knox Grove is a small burial plot in which Daniel Pratt and others of that region are now reposing. Daniel Baird was interred on the farm which he last owned. Besides these there are a few other small burial places in the Township. GEO. A. VAESSEN Custom Corn Shelling and Spraying Phone 29 Sublette, Illinois Hello, Sublette! We hope you have as much real fun and enjoyment from the observance of your Centennial as we in Mendota did in 1953 when we whooped it up for our 100th, Working together is good for a town . . . brings everybody closer together. Wayside Press • mendota Proud to have been the printers of this, your Sublette Centennial History. 10 Through the Vista of the Years 1837 SHERMAN L. HATCH reached Dixon; found his way to the home of Charles F. Ingals who had settled just over the line in Lee Center Township in 1936. During summer of 1837 S. L. Hatch settled on the southwest part of Sec. 7, taking possession of and completing a log house that had been partly built by previous claimants who had abandoned their claim. In the fall he returned to Vermont and came back here the next year with his new bride. Sherman Lovell Hatch at age of 92 years. Pictured with his dog, Martin, before the old homestead in April, 1899 JONATHAN PETERSON arrived in Ottawa in October, 1836. He had come from New Hampshire by Lake Erie to Detroit and then afoot to Ottawa. There he spent the winter of 1836-37, and in February started for Lee County. That summer he made a claim in the northwestern part of Sec. 4. After building a log cabin just over the line in Lee Center, he went back to his native state and was married, returning with his wife the following year. 1838 THOMAS and WILLIAM FESSENDEN arrived in the fall with their families from New Hamsphire. Built a log house near the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of Sec. 7, and moved into it the following Dec THESE ARE THE FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS OF THE TOWNSHIP The fol- lowing year WILLIAM FESSENDEN built his own home on the SW corner of SW quarter of Sec. 6. JOSEPH KNOX moved with his family and settled on south side of eastern portion of grove bearing his name. This was on the Chicago and Galesburg Road, east of the center of the SE quarter of Sec 24 SYLVANUS PETERSON, brother of JONATHAN, located on the SE quarter of Sec. 5. n 1839 PHINEAS RUST built the FIRST frame house on Sec. 30. Never lived there himself but sold his claim to PHILO STANNARD and THOMAS ANGIER late in 1840. THOMAS TOURTILLOTT bu.lt a frame house 10 X 20 feet on Sec 31 OBER W. BRYANT settled on the "Old Chicago Road" on Sec 35 JOHN MORTON and R. E. GOODALL settled on Sec. 5 and 8 DANIEL BAIRD, locating in La Salle County in fall of 1836, moved to Township in 1839, building his home on the La Salle and Grand Detour Road. Lee County officially organized. WILSON ROEMMICH Insurance Agency Low Cost Protection against Fire, Extended Coverage, Windstorm, Hail Phone 10200 Sublette JOHNS GENERAL STORE Groceries and Dry Goods West Brooklyn, III. Congratulations, Sublette, on your 100th Birthday SAM'S FURNITURE S. W. Sam, Proprietor Amboy, Illinois i i 1840 Congratulations on your 100th Birthday LORACK CHEVROLET. INC. 1505 West Washington St. Phone 2119 Mendota, Illinois MORRISSEY'S BARBER SHOP HAIR CUT the way YOU want it Red 3190 1 1 8 S. Van Buren St. Freeport, Illinois AMBOY FLOWER & GIFT SHOP "We telegraph flowers" Amboy, III. Phone 30 WEST BROOKLYN FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE CO. Grain, Feeds, Coal, Gravel, Cement, Steel Posts, and Fences Phone 12 West Brooklyn, Illinois FIRST POSTOFFICE in Township opened in Daniel Baird's house. Was called BROOKFIFLD. Second postoffice was established in Knox Grove in 1847 or 1848, and was named OVID. FIRST postmaster was SOLOMON PORTER. As soon as the Railroad came through, the Knox Grove postoffice was transferred to the Village. Here A. L. WILDER was the FIRST post- master. Following him the early distributors of the mail were WILLIAM FULLER, MR. WARREN, AND JACOB BARTON, who had the job for sixteen years. JOHN BARTON also served a long time. 1841 O. BRYANT built a kiln of brick on the south side of Bureau Creek on NW quarter of Sec. 35. 1842 THOMAS S. ANGIER built a new frame house where the present Angier buildings stand and moved out of the old Rust purchase. GILBERT THOMPSON, later that year, erected a frame dwelling on Sec. 31. Winter of 1842-43 was a hard one. Snow fell in November and remained until next April, with only a light thaw in January. Winter of the Great Comet. Government surveyors subdivided the Township that winter. 1843 EPHRAIM RENIFF with his family settled on Sec. 33. HIRAM ANDERSON settled on same section NE quarter. His claim was "jumped" by a certain Mr. Bull of Dixon. Immediately the "Claim Society", made up of all settlers from miles around, about 65 in number, turned out and went to Dixon well-armed for action. Through the intervention of Sheriff Campbell an agreement was reached: Mr. Bull was turned over to the sheriff; contestants to the claim were to meet on a fixed date and the deed of the dis- puted land was to be returned to Anderson, who would have to pay the first cost of the land. This summary treatment of a "claim jumper" had the de- sired effect; the settlers in the region had no further trouble. STEPHEN RICHARDSON settled on Sec. 31. ALPHEUS CRAWFORD bought a claim in Sec. 13 for $75, within the Knox Grove settlement, where LEVI CAMP had settled that year and DANIEL PRATT the year before. BAPTIST CHURCH ORGANIZED, in April, in Jonathan Peterson's cabin. 13 members were present: Mr. and Mrs. J. Peterson, Sr., Mr. and Mrs. J. Peterson, Jr., Sylvanus Peterson and wife, Nathaniel, Mary, and Hope Peter- son, Jonathan Eells, Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard Eells, and Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Rogers. When the log school was later built meetings were held there since it was centrally located. This was the mother organization for a large adjoin- ing region and was known as "First Baptist Church of Palestine Grove." Meet- ings were held alternately on opposite sides of the Grove for accommodation of those who lived widely apart. In November, 1858, the new church edifice was dedicated in the Village, on Main Street, at a cost of $5,000. The Rev. Henry Headley of La Moille was the first pastor. Previous to this, between 1854 and 1858, the meetings were held in Benton's Hall, one half mile west of the site of the new church. 1844 JACOB VERTREES, JOHN SKINNER, HEZEKIAH and JOHN MCKUNE — all settlers about this time. PRESCOTT BARTLETT claimed the east half of Sec. 21 and built a cabin. SILAS D. RENIFF settled on Sec. 20, and R. P. HUBBARD on Sec. 17. (At this period -- 1844 — the immigrants who came to this Township were to throw the character of settlers from New Englanders to Germans. And to this day Sublette bears the imprint of JACOB BETZ and all the succeeding German settlers who took up claims near the timber known as Perkins Grove, built their log houses and soon began breaking the virgin prairie). LAND SALES AT DIXON. Few settlers were prepared to pay for their lands. They formed themselves into societies for the protection of their homes until they could raise enough money to pay. Speculators from abroad were eager to invest in purchasing the land at the government's price and thereby get with it all the improvements erected on it. But they were deterred from com- ing, knowing discretion to be the better part of valor. The western land 12 speculators, however, were always at hand with ready cash to assist the settlers; this was a benefit to both parties. Many farms were secured through Mexican land warrants on the market soon after the Mexican War in 1848. Little land had been bought from the government before these warrants appeared, but within five years nearly all was sold except the land held by the I. C. R. R., which was sold a short time later. Old settlers knew this year to be the wettest on record from the middle of May to the middle of August. 1845 SOLOMON PORTER bought out WILLIAM KNOX south of Knox Grove SAMUEL and NATHANIEL ELLSWORTH settled on Sec 25 DAVID MAXWELL on Sec. 35, GEORGE HOFFMAN on Sec. 33. MATTHIAS REIS came here to live. Spent the summer and fall with Betz. In wintertime split rails for fifty cents a day. Made of manly stuff, splendidly built, and erect, stouthearted and afraid of nothing. New country furnished many surprises for him. One day while splitting rails, opposite him stood a deer. He lifted his axe and threw it, but the deer darted out of sight. After splitting several thousand rails, Betz gave him a raise of 10 cents a day. By the hardest kind of work and the exercise of close economy he saved enough money to buy 120 acres of land. In 1852 he married Catherine Theiss, daughter of Bartholomaeus. He built a home on the land and began the successful life that was his. 1846 BARTHOLOMAEUS THEISS made a claim to 120 acres in Sec. 29 and 32, where his sons, JOHN, JACOB and GOTTFRIED, subsequently lived HENRY SCHWAB located on Sec. 13, JOHN W. SKINNER on Sec. 34. JOHN SPIELMAN settled on eastern part of Sec. 34, in Perkins Grove neighborhood; also a German family by the name of SMITH. ELEAZAR BARTON, father of J. B. Barton, on May 22, settled on Sec. 25. WILLIAM A. MILLER and son-in-law GEORGE GHEER, on Sec. 35. Miller sold out to H. N. ERSKINE who later sold to P. H. KASPER. KNOX GROVE SETTLEMENT at this time covered a radius of two to three miles around the grove and numbered fourteen families. Not a house had been built on the Chicago and Galesburg Road between the settlement and Paw Paw Grove, a distance of twelve miles. There was no settlement to the South nearer than the Illinois River. To the Southeast, Troy Grove was situated, eight miles distant, the nearest. On the North, Inlet Grove was eight miles. On the North- east, Melugin Grove, ten miles, and Four-mile Grove, eight miles distant METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. First organized at house of LEVI CAMP at Knox Grove. Meetings held in private homes and at Knox Grove school until town hall was available in Village. 1848 CATHOLIC CHURCH ORGANIZED. In fall meetings were held at home of Bartholomaeus Theiss. Among the first families were the Steins, Katzenber- gers. Theisses, Beckers, Smiths, Lauers, Krebs, and others. Father N. Steele was the first priest. In 1853 a church was built on land of A. Stein, known as the Perkins Grove Catholic Church. A rectory was also put up. This burned Perkins Grove Catholic Church — known as the Theiss Church — built under the inspiration of Bartholomaeus Theiss in 1853 FRANK R. OTTENGHEIME Interior — Exterior Painting Decorating Paperhanging RRO-KADE 325 N. Mason St. Amboy, Illinois Compliments of LAMOREUXS STORE Groc.-Dry Goods-Boots Shoes Compton, Illinois CAKES For Weddings, Anniversaries, Birthdays Cakes made to order for any occasion MRS. HORART ADAMS Phone 20120 Sublette Compliments of Your Friend, Frank Atkinson Compliments of HI-WAY TAP Mendota, Illinois 13 Sublette since 1857. Funk's G since 1885. YEAR AFTER YEAR LEO BULFER, JR. Phone 4-4500 Sublette Compliments of Walter C. Knack Co. Wholesale Cigars, Tobacco, Cigarettes, Confectionery, Novelties. Dixon, Illinois Salutations to Sublette — May the next century be even better. Livestock Hauling Home Insurance VERN WASSON Phone 1 6 Lee Center in 1869- Since that time the church did not have a regular priest. The Cath- olics built the first church in the Village in 1868. This church together with the ones at East Maytown and West Brooklyn were daughter churches of the Perkins Grove organization. WILLIAM COLEMAN settled on Sec. 7, and WILLIAM CLINK on Sec. 12. ALPHEUS CRAWFORD and others killed a black bear, weighing 400 pounds, north of Knox Grove. MEXICAN WAR over in 1848; land warrants located here. Many farms were secured by them as they could be purchased on time- or with other property besides money. Men that could purchase land at $1.25 per acre in cash would manage to get good farms by using these land warrants. Up to this time very little land had been purchased by the government in this Township. Five years afterwards it was all entered that the I. C. R. R. did not take by virtue of their grant. The whole Township was put under cultivation except the groves and a good portion of them were fenced for pastures. 1849 TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION was adopted and officially christened HANNO, Lee County being divided into townships. CARL BUETTNER bought part of Sec. 35. POHLS settled on Sec. 36, and ANDREW HENKEL on Sec. 26. WILLIAM and THOMAS IRELAND, JACOB SCHNECK, JACOB WOLF and father NICHOLAS, JACOB EICH, and ANDREW KATZENBERGER arrived. 1850 FIRST TOWN MEETING held on second Tuesday of April. Ordinances: stock was prohibited from running at large from Nov. 15 to April 1. Two pounds also established. Following officers were elected: DANIEL BAIRD, supervisor; HENRY PORTER, clerk; WHITLOCK T. PORTER, assessor; SILAS D. RENIFF, collector; DANIEL PRATT, overseer of poor; HIRAM ANDERSON and W. H. HAMBLIN, highway commissioners; DANIEL AVERY and THOMAS S. ANGIER, constables; ALPHEUS CRAWFORD and ANDREW BERTHOLD, justices of the peace. The number here voting is not given, but two years later 47 votes were cast. The meetings were held in private residences: 1853— DANIEL PRATT'S, Knox Grove; 1854, DANIEL WILCOX'S; 1855— DAVID MAXWELL'S, at which meeting $1000 was voted for the erection of a town house in the Village. 1851 August 19: rain began to fall and continued unceasingly for three days and nights. Frenzied clouds ablaze with lightning led the superstitious to fear the Day of Judgment had come. Nobody left his home. Provisions ran out. John Britton's invitation "to help yourself to my potato patch" was accepted. Crops were destroyed. Creeks were swollen inordinately and became roaring torrents. Fields were submerged for miles around. 1852 April 6: at the town meeting 48 votes were cast in the Village. One of first iron horses to steam through Sublette 14 1854 In summer a railroad depot and warehouse were erected. I. C. R. R. was com- ing from the South and first steamer passed throueh in the fall FIRST POSTOFFICE in Village with A. L. WILDER as postmaster. 1855 Village FIRST platted as SOUBLETTE or TOWN OF SOUBLETT May 8 on the land of the I. C. R. R. ' * ' DANIEL COOK finished construction of FIRST residence in Villaee A. L. WILDER and JESSE HALE built FIRST stores. FRANK BARTLETT, FIRST Village carpenter, and JAMES PALMER FIRST blacksmith. 1856 PAUL LINDSTROM constructed FIRST saloon and hotel. PAUL MOSSHOLDER DeKalb Hybrids Corn & Chicks Phone SUBLETTE LaMoille, Illinois POWERS GROCERY Richelieu fancy groceries & meats Amboy, Illinois The Lindstrom Hotel — long-ti m e stand of Frank Lett (441 E. Front St.) — present home of Mrs. Max Letl. Joe, and Boots SPITZ PLUMBING & HEATING K. M. Spitz, Prop. Conco & Timken Oil & Gas Kohler- America n- Standard-Eljer Phone 222 Amboy, III. J. B. BARTON opened FIRST drug store. '¥&£>< "*^i „ T*t/' « Bart "" lJhar ™<>rv loith Mr. (sitting) and Mrs. J. B r—nn on the porch. The Home of Barton's "Golden Ointment" and -Rhubarb Cordial" FIRST TOWN HOUSE erected, substantially bu.lt, s.ze 24 X 36 feet on tax money of $1000.00, voted upon at meeting of April 3 1855 HO^TIO A ?R^mTp ereCted residen u ce ' kter USed for ' Cat h°iic parsonage. HORATIO ERSKINE put up new home. DR. SMITH moved into his resi- dence. S I t JC a L c I L ALVA " HALE ' as wdl as famili « of JAMES COLVIN and ROB- EK1 ASH, came to Village. Congratulations EICHLER BROS. Inc. Dixon — Amboy THE CAVE John & Rosalie Scibetta Wines & Liquors We specialize in Ravioli & Spaghetti Phone 2171 Compton SCHIMMER P0NTIAC CO. 1503 W. Washington St. Mendota, Illinois Phone 7916 15 1857 ERNEST SUTTON General Trucking Phone 55 Sublette, Illinois Congratulations, Sublette! SUBLETTE CUB-LETS Girls' Softball Team January 24: Petition with bill for act to change name of Hanno Township in County of Lee to Sublette. February 18: act of legislature approved to change the name of Hanno Town- ship to Sublette Township. Township was first called HANNO from "Hanau", a city on the Rhine above Frankfort, in Nassau, Prussia. It had been so named in 1849 by James Tourtillott. lSl4s£7 is a station. Here a single elevator is doing a flourishing business in buying the gram from the vicinity and storing it. 1904 SUBLETTE EXCHANGE BANK: Here the banking interests of the com- munity are looked after with a capital of $12,500 and deposits amounting to $102,946, at a given date this year. The officers are: George F. Malach, presi- dent: John P. Malach, vice-president; Anton H. Lauer, cashier. 1909 "The character of a small town can be nearly always judged by its churches. Sublette bears the distinction of having the most costly church of any village its size in Northern Illinois. This church is a Roman Catholic edi- fice, which was built at a cost of nearly $60,000, all but $6,000 of the amount being clear of debt. The structure is of pressed brick and the architecture is appropriate as well as artistic. An exceptionally tall spire that can be seen for miles arises from the large dome. Besides being beautiful to the eye with- out, the interior decorations are very costly, the inside decorations alone cost- ing over $8,000. The stained glass windows also demand the visitor's atten- tion as they are imported from Germany and of a value exceeding $4,000. Father Hagen is the present priest, and the church is in a very prosperous condition and is pointed to with pride by every citizen of the village. Congratulations from ®l]C i\ntbou iN'cfos "Lee County's Largest ond Liveliest Weekly" Published every Thursday at Amboy BRADY'S QUALITY MARKET Wm. J. Brady The "Old Reliable" served Amboy all his life — The "Young Reliable" in Dad's old stand, is here to serve you now. Phone 13 Amboy On a drive about the Village are: Joseph Bettendorf, Father Hagen, (in the back seat) Paul Stephenitch, Lucy Burkartsmeier (Mrs. Jack Becker), Mrs. Paul Stephenitch, about 1910 Congratulations Sublette TORRI GRAIN CO. Grain-Feed-Seed "One of the largest general stores in Lee County is the store of George Lauer, who has a great stock of merchandise including complete lines of dry goods', groceries, hats, boots, shoes, and crockery. Mr. Lauer is a wholehearted man of wide acquaintance and holds his large patronage by his pleasant per- sonality and straightforward business methods. "Another double store which enjoys a lucrative trade from far and wide is that of P. F. Kuehna, who carries everything that is needed in the line of dry goods, groceries, crockery and shoes. Mr. Kuehna is a jovial fellow who knows his patrons and is always willing to serve them in any way in his power. 21 Phone 2301 Compton, Illinois SUTTON'S SPREADING SERVICE Limestone Phosphate Fertilizer Grain Tel. 31 Sublette OTTO KRETSCHMER General Carpenter New Building Repairing Remodeling "Sublette is noted for the sociable friendliness of its inhabitants and the farmers living near. That it is rather a convivial town is evident from the fact that it supports four buffets. Two of these, Frank Letl's and Jacob Blei's, have been in existence for many years; Charles Letl's and Jacob Wahl's are of re- cent origin. Frank Lctl runs a barber shop in connection with his saloon, which was originally the old Lindstrom Hotel. "Sublette boasts of two hardware stores. The corner store is owned by Paul A. Stephenitch and a complete line of shelf and heavy hardware, as well as farm implements, is carried. G. M. Leffelman is the proprietor of the other store and for the past four years has handled everything needed in the hard- ware line and a goodly line of paints and oils with harness and leather goods in addition. A. J. Lauer has a part of the same building and deals in farm implements, as well as in making a specialty of plumbing. Posing for their pictures in front of the A. J. Lauer's Hardware Store: the first man from the left unidentified, then Frank Myers, George Leffelman, and A. J, Lauer, owner Sublette, Illinois MINI'S TAP Soda Fountain Ice Cream Package Goods Chicken on Saturday Nights Hot Sandwiches Daily Sublette, III. "A popular place to spend an evening is the pool room of Henry Michel. In connection with the pool room, Mr. Michel manufactures cigars and op- erates a chair which is always in readiness for those in need of a haircut or shave. "One of the most progressive of the business men is J. D. Bansau who owns the only meat market in the village. Last Wednesday forenoon he had the misfortune to be burned out, but not to be daunted, he continued busi- ness by moving next door. He is now nicely located and is ready to furnish the choicest cuts at a reasonable price. All set for his morning , s route — John Bansau. his team and meat ivagon 22 "The oldest business in Sublette conducted under one management is the boot, shoe, and men's furnishing store owned by H. Bansau. This business was founded in L870 by Mr. Bansau and many thousand dollars' worth of parcels have been carried from this store in the past forty years. Two of the investments which show natural wealth and thrift around Sublette are its elevators, to which grain is hauled from many miles around. The Bieber Brothers Grain and Lumber Company does an extensive business in lumber, coal, and building materials as well as buying and selling a great amount of grain. Bieber Brothers assumed control of the business in the sum- mer of 1895, purchasing it from Oberhelman and Brother who had conducted the business for over 33 years prior to that time. "The other elevator is owned and managed by J. W. Bettendorf who also deals in coal. Mr. Bettendorf purchased the elevator from John Ebersole along about Jan. 1, 1895, and has steadily built up the business alone. "Nearly every community has a physician, but there are few so fortunate as Sublette in having a man with the ability of Dr. B. H. Angear, who located in this Village after a two years' practice in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Illinois Medical College of Chicago of the class of 1900, and his work in school was such that he passed the state medical examination two years before his graduation. His office, which is located on the second floor of the Lauer building is modern in every particular, the equipment including an X-ray machine, an electrical vibrator, wall plate, and also an electrical nebulizer, for the treatment of the nose and throat. To assist him in keeping a record of the many cases included in his large practice, which extends in every direction from Sublette, he uses a very complete card system. "John Stilz keeps a hotel for the accommodation of the traveling public, and lucky is the man who has a chance to enjoy the generous home-cooked viands after weeks of common hotel and restaurant cooking. "The only livery stable in the Village is owned by William Koehler, who is at all times ready to accommodate local as well as transient patronage. "There are two blacksmith shops in Sublette, A. A. Kelchner's and S. N. Paige's, where, in addition to expert horseshoeing, repair work of all kinds is quickly done. "In cities of ten thousand inhabitants or under, the surrounding country and the character of the farmer has much to do with the business and general well-being of the town. Sublette is particularly fortunate in this respect. The township has been known for years as one of the richest in Lee County. Not only is the land fertile and well drained but it is farmed to the best advantage. Any stranger driving out on any of the rural routes cannot help but notice the large, well-filled barns, the modern, neatly painted residences, well cared for fields and the almost perfect condition of the fences. The two large elevators of the Village are standing evidences of the bumper crops in this section the past decade. The past season much of the corn averaged 50 to 80 bushels per acre, and the oats ranked proportionately. Not only are the farmers successful in their chosen work in this community, but they have the welfare of the Village at heart, take pride in the merchandise of Sublette merchants. Thus the Village and the surrounding country work in harmony, enabling the Town- ship to have the advantage of good schools, good churches, and good roads which many other townships of the same population cannot afford or enjoy." (Supplement of The Amboy News, December 24, 1909) Congratulations to Sublette Community and Citizens on your 1 OOth-Birthday- 1 OOth We have enjoyed doing business in this commu- nity the past twenty- nine years. 1928 1957 MARTIN A. SCHUETTE Hardware Phone 1 8 Amboy, III. Compliments of RALPH FANELLI Amboy, Illinois L. A. LAUER Real Estate Insurance Farm Loans Phone 1 96 Amboy, III. 1910 April 15: Dr. Angear is having a $5,000 hospital erected next to his home. Work on same commenced Monday by several men in digging and scraping. The building no doubt will improve Sublette considerably and the hospital will be one the town can well feel proud of. September 16: Angear Sanitarium is now nearly completed. Plumbers are working day and night to finish putting in heating plant. September 30: Messrs. Ben Full, Chas. Letl, Frank Letl, Leo Lauer, and J. F. Lauer spent Sunday in Peru. October 7: Several men driving a herd of horses and mules stopped in Sub- lette Sunday night and put them in the stockyards overnight. One of the mules broke open the gate during the night and wandered out on the railroad track and was instantly killed by a passing freight train. October 14: The little four-year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Max Letl, Joseph by name, got his fingers caught in the gears of the washing machine and one of them was so badly crushed that it had to be amputated between the first and second joint. November 4: Eight Cars off the Track at Sublette: A broken wheel threw eight freight cars off the track, piling them up considerably just north of Sub- McNinch Grocery General Merchandise Lee Center, Illinois 23 THE VILLAGE PANTRY Hot & Cold Sandwiches Fountain Service Soft Drinks Ice Cream Julius & Grace Theiss, Props. Sublette, Illinois Compliments of TOMLINSON FUNERAL HOME Amboy, Illinois Melody WHIP WHIPS LIKE A DREAM! ; Tastes wonderful In cooked ! or baked dishes and Is good In coffee, too. AMBOY MILK PRODUCTS CO. Amboy, Illinois Compliments of O'BRIEN'S TAP Amboy, Illinois lette Sunday evening on the Illinois Central. The regular trains could not get by the wreck, so the passengers on the south bound and those on the north bound transl erred trains at the scene of the wreck. No member of the freight crew was hurt. The engine and several cars near the locomotive did not leave the track. The track was badly torn up and several of the cars were quite badly damaged. December 16: Miss Angela Schuler of Mendota recently found a $5 bill winch she advertised in the Sun Bulletin. Mrs. Chas. Letl of Sublette lost this amount of money while going from the train to Werschinski's store and upon answer- ing the ad was given the money. Sun Bulletin ads pay. 1918 WORLD WAR I: The Township gave 32 men in service, all except one — Edwin Oscar Koch — surviving the dangers they faced. His body was re- turned to Sublette and was interred in the Peterson Cemetery. Sublette gave its full quota to every campaign conducted within its borders. First meeting held for the Second Liberty Loan at Armory Hall with about 175 present. Chas. E. Bettendorf presided; second meeting at Armory Hall with William H. Brucker presiding; third at St. Mary's School, with Brucker presiding; and fourth at the Union Church with the Rev. P. Koeneke. June 17, a Red Cross branch was organized with 72 members. Louis Pitcher and Mrs. McCleary of Dixon helped it organize. Wm. Brucker was elected chairman with assistants: Mrs. Leslie Abell, Mrs. Mary Auchstetter, Miss Catherine Kuehna, Mrs. Otto Koehler, Mrs. John Stilz, and Mrs. G. M. Reis. Work done and turned in was: 197 hospital shirts; 114 pajamas; 80 bandages; 45 sweaters; 92 pairs of socks with a large number of helmets, wristlets, quilts and other supplies. In loans and stamps Sublette Township contributed $160,280.00 toward the war efforts; in outright donations: $4618.50. Ex-service men organized a Legion Post, No. 716. Its early membership was about 15, who attended the meetings regularly and stood behind all community projects. Roy Long, a young farmer living a few miles west of the Village, was Post Commander for a number of years. 1919 SUBLETTE FARMERS ELEVATOR COMPANY was organized and began business. The first board of directors included: E. G. Hoffman, F. M. Blowers, William Brucker, George Erbes, J. P. Malach, W. H. Glaser, J. R. Oester. 1920 CHARLES B. HATCH hauled the first load of pigs to Sublette by gasoline power. With his trailer hitched behind his Model-T Ford, he made eleven trips to bring 55 hogs to town. Compliments of FAGAN'S CLOTHING & SHOE STORE Amboy, Illinois HOERNER'S HARDWARE & APPLIANCES Television Sales & Service Philco, Zenith, Admiral Phone 43 West Brooklyn Main Street, viewed from the W est. in the early 1900* 1922 "SUBLETTE, at the present time, has a population of very nearly 300 peo- ple. It is a thriving and prosperous little village situated in the midst of one of the best farming districts in Illinois. A large per cent of the people living in the town are retired farmers, men who lived all their lives in this 24 vicinity and have put in long hours ot labor on the farm. They have watched Sublette grow and teel it is the only place in Illinois where they would like to spend the remainder or their lives. "At the present time the farmers of that vicinity haul their grain to the Farmers Elevator of Sublette. The elevator is owned by farmers of that dis- trict. The grain is shipped out on the only railroad, the Illinois Central, run- ning through the town. Lumber is handled in connection with the grain by the elevator. An extensive trade has been built up in this particular line. A large lumber shed, similar to the one of the Mendota Farmers' Co-operative Co., has been erected in which the lumber is housed after being unloaded from the freight cars. "The quality of the land in that section will compare with any land in the State oi Illinois. The crop last year in the vicinity of Sublette was a bumper crop compared with the crops within a short distance of that locality. The farmers were visited with a rain last summer, just at the time it was needed, and other farming communities were not so favored. "The business section of Sublette comprises two grocery stores, hotel, two barber shops, two elevators, two hardware dealers, a number of soft drink parlors, a bank, a livery stable, and a hospital. The Catholic Church is located on the extreme eastern edge of the town and the Union Church was, until recently, vailed the Baptist Church. The Sublette public school is situated on the east side of town. Miss Clara Erbes acts in the capacity of principal, and Miss Hilda Bansau is in charge of the primary department. "The Sublette Hospital, owned and operated by Dr. B. H. S. Angear, is known and used extensively. Dr. Angear is one of the best informed doctors in this section of the country and has a large practice. "The city officials are: Pres. A. J. Lauer; Village Clerk, Lester Geiger; Trustees. J. A. Auchstetter, Michael Lauer, A. J. Koehler, Ben H. Full, Godfrey Dinges. and W. E. Easter; City Waterworks Engineer, George M. Reis; Con- stable, Edward McNinch. "The people of that community believe in hard work. They are supporters in every movement which will be an improvement to the community. Taken as a whole, the citizens are wide-awake and up to the minute set of individu- als." (The Mendota Sun Bulletin, March 9, 1922) The Bur-Lee-Eau Community Club was organized with Leslie Long as its first president. (In 1957 it remains the oldest such organization in the history of the Township, with 25 active members presided over by Paul Mossholder.) 1926 Organization of the SUBLETTE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT, with Henry Bansau as first chief. About 1934 the first fire truck was built under the direction of Bert Hewitt of Amboy and the assistance of the Amboy fire- men. This was the beginning of the continued wonderful spirit of cooperation between these two fire-fighting units. In 1939, August 6, the Firemen's Tourna- ment was held at Sublette. In 1947 a new fire truck was purchased by the com- munity in the form of an International K-5 truck, and a new fire station was built. In 1951 a gala celebration marked the Silver Jubilee of the organization. Congratulations, Sublette GEO. CHESLEY General Carpentry Sublette, Illinois Congratulations, Sublette BOB'S SUPER SERVICE Emergency Road Service Chicago Motor Club Phone 144 R 2 Amboy, Illinois LEE COUNTY GRAIN ASSOCIATION Elevators at Lee Center, Ashton, Shaws, Steward A Producer-Owned Co-Operative Main Office Lee Center, III. Sublette's first fire truck, built by Bert Hewitt and Amboy firemen around April, 1934. In truck: Lloyd Plume, Erivin Hatvs, Dick Dorralson, Elmo Litts, and Bert Hewitt 25 SHEARER'S GAMBLE STORE Amboy, III. Home of such famous names as: Rockcote paints Whirlpool R. C. A. Estate Coronado Bendix Hoover We give Top Value Stamps Congratulations, Sublette, on your 100th birthday MICHAEL G. MIHM Funeral Home Amboy, Illinois You can make your "someday" come true now with a 1957 Buick JOHN A. LIGGETT Buick Sales & Service 4 South Jones Avenue Amboy, Illinois In L954 the new number system for the fire district was introduced. L. J. Vaessen is the present lire chief, and the association is now a member of the Black Hawk firemen's Association. 1934 June 20: Sublette businessmen sponsored community picnic at Amboy Park. 2l/ 2 nnile parade from Sublette to Amboy; 2500 were present. Elevator mode!, built to scale by Urb Glaser and Julius Fischer, entered in 1934 Businessmen's Parade 1938 September 29: A. J. Lauer and son, Amor, started construction of new imple- ment building, which opened December 8. 1939 Erection of Community Building -- the end result of a recognized need for years, after much planning and organization. Adequate facilities with club room upstairs, dance floor and basketball court, stage, kitchen, dining room, and bowling alleys in basement. Main Street was first paved, f938 or 1939. 1940 January 4: Sublette's new Community Building was dedicated, with entertain- ment, supper, and dance. The building committee consisted of: Dr. B. H. S. Angear, chairman; Peter Reinhart, secretary; Walter Erbes, treasurer. Original cost was $18,000. "*« "1 »• Sublette Community Building and Servicemen's Memorial Plaque 26 February: John J. Barton retired as Sublette postmaster, after having served the community in that capacity for 34 years. This is the longest term of any postmaster in this community. Mr. Barton was eighth in history of village, being preceded by: A. L. Wilder, Mr. Fuller, Jacob B. Barton, George Hewitt! Frank Thompson, Mrs. Carrie Pumphrey, Berthold Fluehr, and succeeded by Albert W. Butler and the present incumbent, Amor Lauer. Berthold Fluehr, then post- master, and son, Frank, in front of post office in 1903 HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY to Sublette Village and Township from the author of The Biography of a Country Town: U.S.A. Anthony J. Becker Copies of book still available $3.00 each. Free mailing — upon request — anywhere Congratulations! KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS Council 2090 Mendota, Illinois May: Dr. B. H. S. Angear retired. Dr. C. D. Hartman took charge of the Sublette Hospital. 1941 December 17: Our boys started leaving for service in World War II. Doctor Hartman joined the United States Navy. O. S. U. Mothers' Club was or- ganized. Green River Ordnance Plant brought many new faces to Sublette. 1942 June 12: Victory Parade at Sublette, Friday evening, in connection with Vic- tory Week. 1943 June 17: Memorial plaque for men and women in service was dedicated. It was erected through the efforts of the S. O. S. Mothers' Club. Honor Roll established. Poem for occasion composed by Lillian Rapp. December: 85th Anniversary Celebration of Union Church. 1945 April: V. E. Day: Fire whistle blew long and joyfully through Village and to all corners of Township. August 14: V. J. Day: Big celebration: fire department staged a rally; both churches held thanksgiving services — bells were rung long and loud. Horns and whistles made the Village reverberate with the glad tidings. However — five local sons would not return home: Lester McNinch, Adam Young, John Arrigo, Donald Rapp, and Marvin E. Frank. 1947 Extensive program for remodeling the Sublette Farmers' Bank, inside and out. 1948 June 7: Henkel elevator, presently owned and operated by the Federal North Iowa Grain Company, and five adjoining buildings destroyed by fire. Build- ings included elevator, warehouse, office building, machine shed, garage and company house. Six of eight were completely destroyed. Loss to company estimated at S30,000. Also burned were posts, lumber, and four buildings owned by the Meier Post Company, with loss of $40,000. THE ROSE MARY Gustie Fischer, Owner Amboy, Illinois ORIE BONNELL dealer for Edw. J. Funk and Sons Super Crost Hybrids Phone Sublette 20400 Compliments of LEONARDS BAKE SHOP 724 Main Street Mendota, Illinois Phone 4711 Compliments of TOBY" BARRY State Representative 40th District Ladd, Illinois 27 Congratulations Sublette W. P. WEITZEL your local PIONEER DEALER ROCK RIVER READY MIX not Inc. Dixon, Illinois Plant, Logan Ave. and Rock River Plant Phone 4-9551 Full Measured Quality Concrete Our Best Wishes to Sublette August: Community meeting to decide whether Sublette Hospital would be opened. With a large crowd in attendance opening was decided. September: Sublette Hospital bought by the community from Dr. and Mrs. C. D. Hartman, and organized under name of Sublette Community Memorial Hospital. September 22: Sublette Hospital Day held. Included an outdoor auction sale of articles which were hard to get at time, such as autos, tractors, etc. A total of $8,000 was realized. One of largest crowds ever in the Village; drive for funds to remodel and redecorate hospital, which was closed during World War II when Doctor Hartman joined the navy - - but returned afterwards to build a new home and office. During War Josephine Burkardt came to aid of many with her experience in nursing technique. 1951 April: Interior of Sublette Community Hall gutted by fire. Loss of $12,000. July 27: Flash flood hits Village between 4 and 6 p. m. Center of rain storm apparently about one mile south of Village where it poured water into a low spot on Route 52 to a depth of about five feet. Many houses in Village had flooded basements. 1953 LEFFELMAN MEAT CENTER established in a new building north of Vil- lage — "our own little Swift and Company," with the latest in handling and curing meat. December: DR. WAYNE F. SPENADER starts practice. 1956 Construction of new Sublette Elementary School started. LIONS CLUB organized. President: Howard Sutton. 1957 Completion of new Elementary School. August 17-18 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION m mmm **m ■m m Wkmi B»* iilliliiiiiiigiiissil ■35 «■■» ■*■■»■» ."""™ .."""" \ New Sublette Elementary School, one block West of the Community Building, now being completed by the Lindquist Construction Co., of Dixon, will be ready for classes in September. 1957. Teaching staff will be: Paul Shanyfelt, Mrs. Alivilda Swisher, and Mrs. Ellice Dinges 28 To Sublette and its Community, on its 100th Birthday, We say: "Congratulations, Neighbor" H. F. Gehant Banking Co. West Brooklyn, Illinois 29 IfU tii roSpecuon LILLIAN A. RAPP Our hearts respond with gladness, And with keen appreciation too, For the settlers who a century ago, Came to this farming land so new. They came by covered wagons, Over land and by waterways. We thrill to learn of the courage, They displayed in those early days. First came the brave New Englanders — Descendants of old pilgrim stock. Some came from the State of Ohio, With a spirit hardship could not block. It was in Eighteen Hundred Thirty- Seven, That certain, strong, young men came. Near the timbers they built log cabins, And each improved his government claim. We are proud of the descendants, Who value their homesteaded land, And who teach the young generation, Veneration, for a memory so grand. The wooded land, the running creek, The grassland and unturned sod Awaited here the valiant souls. 'Twas prepared by an all-giving God. The wild game was here before them, In abundance, to supply their food. With wild plums, grapes and crab- apples, To please their appetite and mood. Fresh berries, each in their season, Gave the settlers just cause to rejoice. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, With chokecherries they had a choice. The wild elderberry blossoms were dried, And used for brewing a cup of good tea. Wild honey was also here to be found, It was made by the industrious bee. They knew how to find and identify plants, That they used for good home reme- dies. Blue flag, that grew on the wet low- land, And boneset were the commonest of these. Back from the California "Gold Rush", Great grandfather bought land here. Paying less than one dollar an acre, He built a log house, with title clear. Other German folks came from over- seas And they purchased farmland nearby. That language was all the children heard, Until in school English was given a try. Their love for the land made labor a joy. They met the challenge of each new day. With horse, mule, or oxen to pull the plow, The men walked behind it all the way. The acreage was small, but tilled by hand, Made physical strength a prime fac- tor. Arising before dawn, they retired by eight, Quite different than farming with tractor. The farm problems of the early pio- neers, Were far more perplexing than we know. But they toiled on with hope and vision, That good results, they would surely show. The children helped with the corn planting; They dropped the kernels into the rows, While walking along with their elders, Who dug and finished with their hoes. Those early days, before the railroad came, The children they told of three-day trips, To sell their sacked grain in Chicago, And how with obstacles they came to grips. The horse-drawn wagons could not get across The creeks until emptied of their load. Men carried the sacked grain on their backs, Until they got on good solid road. The pack peddlers, in those early days, Were often made welcome as visitors. The farm folks bought the merchan- dise That he displayed from meager stores. But sometimes they went to Chicago, To buy yard goods from which they made The clothes and dresses that they wore, On which no store-bought pattern laid. Lillian A. Rapp Great grandmother carded the sheep wool, And on her spinning wheel made the yarn, With which she knitted the stockings To keep the feet of her whole family warm. Her knitting needles could never be idle, She plied them the time she could spare From her many other household duties, In which her older children had a share. The rain barrel was their conven- ience, Along with a wooden tub and wash- board. The homemade soap from ash-made lye Was all that generation could afford. The length and fulness of the dresses, And the many petticoats that they wore Must have reddened and blistered hands Of the washers, and made them quite sore. Great grandmother made the candles From tallow and from wild beeswax. Her family was large, her house small, There was no time for her to relax. There was no handy box of matches Available, in those early bygone days. The open fireplace, where a backlog Was kept burning for starting a blaze. 30 With plunger churn and its tall crock They made butter from pan-cooled cream. While their strong arms plied the plunger, A new invention became a farm iad s dream. The butter was washed with cool water. Carried by bucket from the dug well. It was salted and worked with a paddle, Thus making it ready to eat or to sell. Spacious homes replaced the log cabins; The growing children had rooms of their own. One-room schools were built for edu- cation. For man cannot live for roof and bread alone. Our great grandparents saw us in their vision; They toiled that our lives would be blest, By their efforts to conquer the hard- ships, Before leaving earth for eternal rest. Bringing steamer to a halt is Mr. Voigt, the station agent, standing with his son, to the tcest of the old depot in the early 1900's Did You Know That? The town, such at it was, moved in from Perkins Grove when the Railroad came through this section? Passenger The grading between Mendota and service out of the Village was very ac- Sublette is the highest on the I. C. commodating for many years, both R. R. run from downstate? North and South? Later bus service took over and ran for a few years? We salute the Sublette Community on its Centennial One hundred years has brought many changes . . . from the log cabin to the New Butler and Steel Frame Buildings. MENDOTA BUILDING SERVICE, Inc. Youi "BUTLER: Builder Mendota, Illinois 31 Can Anything Good Come from Sublette? Literary Celebrities of Sublette Stock WILLIAM ELEAZAR BARTON Born at SUBLETTE, Illinois, June 28, 1861. Died at Brook- lyn, New York, December 7, 1930. American Congregation- list clergyman and writer. Father of Bruce Barton. He served as pastor (1899-1924) of the First Church at Oak Park, Illinois, and founded (1928) and preached at the College- side Church at Nashville, Tenn. He was editor-in-chief (1913-17) of The Advance, and served on the staff (1900- 17, 1925 et seq.) of The Youth's Companion. His writings include Life of the Hills of Kentucky (1889), Pocket Con- gregational Manual (1910), The Parables of Safed the Sage (1917), Abraham Lincoln and His Books (1920), and The Great Good Man (1927). (Taken from New Century Cyclopedia of Names) BRUCE BARTON Born on August 5, 1886, in Robbins, Tennessee, the son of William E. Barton, into an atmosphere of books and scholar- ship - an atmosphere which made it inevitable that he should write. His father was a great scholar and teacher, and a world authority on Abraham Lincoln. The young Barton graduated from Amherst College in 1907, and spent the following years in the editorial and sales departments of various mag- azines. This varied experience naturally fitted him for the job of executive head of an advertising agency, and he is now (1944) president of Batten, Barton, Durstine, and Os- borne, one of the largest agencies in the United States. He has found time, nevertheless, to write innumerable magazine articles and books. His brilliant interpretation of the life and character of Christ, The Man Nobody Knows. originally published in 1925, was enormously successful and brought him national fame. It was followed the succeeding year by The Book Nobody Knows, in 1927 by What Can a Man Believe?, and in 1929 by On the Up and Up. In later years the talents so brilliantly developed in writ- ing and advertising were applied to politics, and in 1937 Bruce Barton was elected to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Theodore A. Peyser. He was re- elected in 1938 as a Representative from the famous Silk Stocking District in New York City, and is now (1944) a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the House Committee on Labor. Mr. Barton was married to Esther M. Randall of Oak Park, Illinois, in 1913- They reside in New York City and have two sons and a daughter. — AND MUSICAL CELEBRITIES? "Best Wishes and Continued Progress" L. J. STEPHENITCH & SONS your International Harvester Dealer Since 1893 also General Electric Appliances and Speed Queen Wringer Washers Sales and Service Dial 2194 Mendota, Illinois Did You Know That? Clara Barton, of Sublette ancestry, has also written and published books? William E. Barton mailed his books on Lincoln and other subjects out of Sublette at the time of their publication, precisely to raise the classification of the postoffice from fourth to third? Jacob Barton's "Golden Ointment", manufactured in Sublette, used to be known and used from coast to coast. Sublette Band of 1905. The group includes: Tony Lauer, Fred Koehler, Ed Wolfe, George Leffel- man. Ed Easter, George Barth, Paul Lauer. George Lauer, John Lauer, Will Easter, Jake Michel, and Roman Malach 32 Welcome To The Sublette Centennial SKINNY S TAVERN Chicken on Wednesday Night Fresh Fish on Friday Night Phone 13 Sublette, Illinois Skinny and Mildred Did You Know That? It is falsely rumored that Abe Lin- coln spent some nights at the Barton's home in Sublette? Ellice Dinges taught school longer than any other teacher in the Village School? Sublette's String Quartet: back, Wm. Easter, Tony Lauer; front. Geo. Leffelman. Ed. Easter The Most Unforgettable Character I've Met by Bruce Barton (Excerpt from The Reader's Digest, July, 1956) Until a few years ago there were people still living in Obcrlin, Ohio, who remembered one of the strangest spec- tacles ever seen in that college town. Down the main street walked a Negro boy leading a white horse, on which was seated a young woman — my mother — with a baby, myself, in her arms. Behind her walked a Negro girl leading a white cow. And beside them strode my father, who, with hardly more than a dollar in his pocket and not the slightest shadow of fear in his soul, had come to enroll for a theo- logical course. Three years later, on a warm May afternoon in 1890, Father was awarded a diploma from the Oberlin Theo- logical Seminary. That was a triumphant day, for behind it lay a long, hard struggle. Father's first memory went back to 1865, when he was four. He was standing in front of my grandfather's drug- store [in SUBLETTE] holding a package of tacks while Grandfather strung black cotton over the door. A group of men were watching, and the reason Father remembered the scene so vividly was because it was the first time he had ever seen grown men cry. The news had just reached the town of Sublette, Illinois, that Abraham Lincoln was dead. Grandfather [Jacob B. Barton, who settled in Knox Grove in 1846] was a kindly man at heart, but stubborn and em- bittered by financial reverses. Father, though he respected him, decided at the age of 16 that it was better for them to live apart. Father had accumulated four dollars but this money, he felt, was not rightfully his, since his father had provided a roof for him, and clothes and food. He left the four dollars and walked away penniless. On the second day he was faced with a moral decision ■ — should he walk or jump a freight train [out of Sublette]? His feet were blistered and swollen, but to ride, it seemed to him, would be stealing. He told me later: "That was the time I decided, once and for all, never to do anything that would make it impossible for me to look my mother, or my friends, in the face without shame." He added: "It's a good thing to make that decision early; then you never have to worry about it again." He worked on farms in Illinois from daybreak to dark, and read in bed every book he could lay his hands on. He taught himself Latin, and one day when he met a young clergyman who showed him his diploma, Father found to his delight that he could decipher it. Eagerly he asked: "With how little money could a man enter college and get through?" The preacher answered: "It all depends on the man. If he has good health and is determined to succeed he can enter college without one red cent and come out with his bills paid." "Without one red cent." The words fired his ambition. After teaching school near Barbourville, Ky., one summer, Father walked 70 miles to enroll in Berea College. His roommate was Charlie Norton and together they worked on the college farm, set type in the college printing office and waited on table in the college dining room. The rate of pay at Berea was then seven to twelve cents an hour. . . Did You Know That? Attorney John O. Shaulis, Sr., once taught school in Sublette? The Village once had a thriving li- brary? (Oh, books, where have you gone?) 33 WISHES to the citizens of Sublette on your 1 00th Anniversary Harold Carroll Carl Knudten and the Boys of Alii u i CHEVROLET wOLDSMOBILE--- SALES wSERVICE A M B o y I l_ l_ I N O I S We extend a heartfelt welcome to our Sublette Friends on your Centennial SAM'S STEAK HOUSE Mendota The Laws and Ordinances of the Village of Sublette, Lee County, Illinois, as passed on February 13, 1893 and approved on February 17, 1893. (Taken from the book of ordinances together with The Rules and Regulations of the Board of Trustees, Compiled and Revised by Order of the Board of Trustees and Published by Au- thority of the Board of Trustees. RULE 1 : At all meetings of the Board of Trustees, upon the appearance of a quorum, the Board shall be called to order, the President taking the Chair, if present, and the Board appointing an "acting President'' if the President should be absent. In case of the absence of the Clerk, a Clerk pro tempore shall be appointed. The Board shall then proceed to the business before them which shall be conducted in the order following: 1. The reading of the minutes of the proceedings of the last meeting. Amendment and approval of the same; the minutes standing approved unless objected to. 2. Unfinished business of preceding meeting. 3. Received communications and petitions. 4. Reports of committees 5. Report of officers. 6. Appointment of officers. 7. Auditing bills. 8. Presenting ordinances. 9. Offering resolutions. 10. New and miscellaneous business. 11. Adjournment. (The following are extracted from the book of ordinances in the hope that they will be reviewed by the presently law-abiding citizens of Sublette Township) Ord. No. 1, BOUNDARIES: Sec. 1: The boundaries of the Village of Sublette, are as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of the southwest quarter (I/4) of south- west quarter (V4) of section three (3), in township nineteen (19), north range eleven (11), east of the 4th P. M., running thence west three quarters (%) of a mile, thence south one and one-half (V2) miles, thence east three-quarters (%) of a mile, thence north one and one-half (IV2) miles to the place of beginning. Ord. No. 2: RESISTING AN OFFICER: Sec. 3: Who- ever aids or assists a prisoner in escaping from an offi- cer or other person who has the lawful custody of such prisoner shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars. Ord. No. 3: SIDEWALKS: Sec. 3: All sidewalks con- structed or repaired hereafter shall not be less than three (3) feet in width, with good and sufficient support underneath. Ord. No. 4: VILLAGE CONSTABLES: Sec. 3: The Vil- lage Constable shall receive for his services such fees for serving all writs and processes allowed by law to con- stables for similar services by the laws of this State; and any officer making an arrest without warrant as provided by Ordinance or law shall receive the same fees therefor as in case of arrest with warrant. Ord. No. 5: TRIALS IN JUSTICE'S COURT: Sec. 7: It shall be the duty of an officer, on arresting a person charged with violating an Ordinance of the Village, to notify the President of the Board of Trustees of said Village of the same, before the trial or examination of such arrested person. Provided, that when the defendant pleads guilty to such charge in open court, no such notice need be given. Ord. No. 6: MALICIOUS MISCHIEF: Sec. 1: No person shall wilfully cut, injure, deface, tarnish, or place any lewd, gross, or obscene marks or characters, advertisement or notice upon any building, fence, tree, or other prop- erty within the Village limits, under penalty of a fine of not less than one dollar nor more than fifty dollars for each offence. 34 Ord. No. 7: NUISANCES. PUBLIC PEACE AND MOR- ALS. PUBLIC SAFETY AND CONVENIENCE: Sec. -i: No person shall ride, drive, or lead any horse or other animal, or any carriage or other vehicle, upon any side- walk, except at crosswalks at intersection of streets or alleys, or entering into, or upon any lot, yard, or stable; nor shall any person tie or leave any horse, team, or vehicle on any sidewalk or crosswalk in said Village so as to obstruct the same; nor shall any person leave any horse or team in any street or alley without being securely fastened, nor tie team in any street or alley without being securely fastened, nor tie such animal to any tree or fence; and any person convicted of either of such offenses shall be fined not less than one dollar nor more than five for each offense. Sec. 9: No person shall use a rubber or elastic attached to a stick, commonly known as a sling, or any other device tor the purpose oi throwing stones or other ma- terials; and any person found guilty of so doing shall be fined not less than onu nor more than five dollars, or be confined in the lockup not more than twenty-four hours. Sec. \2: Minors shall not be permitted to assemble or congregate in or around the depot, or upon any railroad grounds of any railroad within the Village limits; or to get upon or pass under any car or train of cars for any purpose whatever, unless such persons are in the regular employ or are hired by the railroad company; or are there for the purpose of taking the cars for transportation to some regular station; or are at the depot or on said grounds on business and attending to their legitimate business. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars for each offence. Sec. 14: No person shall get or catch on any sleigh, wagon, or other vehicle, while moving, without the ex- press consent or permission of the owner or driver there- of; and any person guilty of violating the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than one nor more than ten dollars for each offence. Ord. No. 8: POLL TAX AND SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS: Sec. 2: Every able-bodied male inhabitant of said Village above the age of twenty-one years and under the age of fifty years - - excepting paupers, idiots, and lunatics, and such others as are exempt by general law, or Ordinance of said Village — shall perform one day's labor in each year upon the streets, alleys, sidewalks, or crosswalks, of said Village at such time and place, and in such manner and with such tools as the Superintendent of the Streets may direct, and whenever notified by such Superintendent; but every such person may at his option pay to the Superintendent of Streets in lieu of such labor, one dollar in money. Provided: that such payment of commutation shall be made on or before the day upon which he may be required by said Superintendent to labor as aforesaid; any person failing to perform such labor when duly notified by said Superintendent and making default in payment or commutation money as aforesaid, shall be liable to the Village and be fined for such re- fusal to labor or commute therefore as aforesaid the sum of two dollars and shall stand committed to the lockup or Village jail until such line and costs are paid. Ord. No. 9: LICENSE: Sec. 13: Whoever shall keep open any barber shop on Sunday after ten o'clock A. M. or any store or meat market after eleven o'clock A. M. (except for work of necessity or charity) shall on con- viction be fined not less than three dollars nor more than twenty dollars for each offence. Ord. No. 10: MUNICIPAL AND FISCAL YEAR: Sec. 1: The municipal and fiscal year shall begin on the first HOWARD SUTTON Representing Lee County Service Company Petroleum Products Phone 55 Sublette THE NATIONAL BANK of MENDOTA Mendota, Illinois Member F.D.I.C. 35 Get your SISLER'S Quality Butter and Ice Cream at L. M. Dinges General Merchandise in Sublette Compliments of C. K. WILLETT Consulting Engineer day of May, and end on the 30th day of April in each and every year. Ord. No. 13: VILLAGE SEAL: Be it ordained by the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Sub- lette. The seal now provided for the Village of Sublette, Lee County, Illinois, and now in use in said Village, having the inscription "VILLAGE OF SUBLETTE, LEE COUNTY, ILLINOIS" around the center thereof, the impression of which seal is hereto affixed, shall be, and is hereby established and declared to be, the seal of the Village of Sublette, Lee County, Illinois. CERTIFICATE OF VILLAGE CLERK State of Illinois, Lee County, Village of Sublette I, J. W. Oberhelman, Village Clerk of the Village of Sublette, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinances from one to thirteen inclusive are true and correct copies as compared with the original Ordinances now on file in my office as Clerk aforesaid, and I do further certify that said Ordinances were passed on the 13th day of February, A.D. 1893, and approved on the 17th day of February, A.D. 1893, and published on the 18th day of February, A.D. 1893. In witness thereof I have hereunto set my hand and af- fixed the corporate seal of said Village of Sublette this 18th day of February, A.D. 1893. J. W. Oberhelman, Village Clerk John Bansau with horse and cart 317 North Galena Avenue Phone 3-1481 Dixon, Illinois When in Mendota Visit SHEET'S TAVERN For your Wining and Dining Pleasure BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR VILLAGE OF SUBLETTE - 1872 A. L. WILDER — dealer in dry goods, groceries, boots, shoes, etc. (ROYAL BLUE STORE) ALVA HALE — hotel proprietor (Near present WATERWORKS) N. W. SMITH — physician and surgeon; justice of peace (delivered among others Mr. and Mrs. H. Bansau; resided and had office in H. Bansau home) H. P. WATTLES — dealer in stoves and hardware JACOB B. BARTON — postmaster; dealer in books, stationery, job printing (North of POSTOFFICE) LEVI MEAD — station and express agent of I. C. R. R. HENRY BANSAU, SR. — boot and shoe manufacturer E. M. LEWIS — wagon and carriage maker (South of H. Bansau's home) G. D. STANNARD — harness maker; dealer in whips, collars, brushes, etc. (place where A. J. Lauer lived) B. FLUER — dealer in boots and shoes (Art Shanyfelt's home) F. OBERHELMAN — dealer in coal, lime, and lumber (First elevator, south of depot, sold to Bettendorf, then to Farmers' Elevator Company, then torn down.) S. NEY — blacksmith and wagon maker. T. M. COLEMAN — physician and surgeon (home of Maud Theiss) G. BIEBER — boots and shoemaker (home of Archie Clark, Jr.) A. BUETTER — Catholic Priest G. W. BRANDON — physician and surgeon F. B. GARDNER — physician and surgeon C. A. WILLMARTH* — dealer in grain, coal, lumber, and agricultural machinery W. D. FORBES — dealer in drugs and hardware (Site of present POSTOFFICE and quarters of the Masons) 36 SOME REMINISCENCES OF HIS BOYHOOD HOME It is commonly said that the contract tor building that tangent of the railway which crossed the watershed between the Illinois and Rode Rivers was let and then sublet and that that accounted tor the name; but when I first remem- ber it, the sign on the railway station read "SOUBLETTE". and I heard that a South-American gentleman with a Spanish name had given us our title of distinction. "I cannot think of anything distinc- tive about Sublette. It was not pictur- esque or attractive or historic. It was a small unkempt village which at most claimed three hundred and fifty in- habitants and now has less than two hundred [1932], set down in the midst of the fertile farms. A skirmish of the Black Hawk War occurred there. Gen- eral Scott marched his army through to Rock Island, cutting through Knox Grove, the "army trail" that was visi- ble in my childhood, but has been ob- literated now because the grove itself has been cut nearly away, General Scott following the Indians and pur- sued by the cholera — but nothing great happened in Sublette then or ever . . . "If ever a community was over- churched, that one [Sublette] was. Al- ready the stream of American Protes- tant life was away from Sublette toward Iowa and Kansas. So many of our people were in Newton, Kansas, that when that town was suffering from crop failure, I remember we sent them a carload of provisions and clothing . . . We saw American-born farmers selling out and moving West, but we kept founding Protestant Churches; it was foolish . . . "By the time I was sixteen I had finished Sublette High School. There- were no graduating exercises, but I am supposed to be of the class of 1878, and in that capacity- I have addressed the school in recent years . . . "Life in Sublette was full of adven- ture. We had all the comedies and tragedies a town could have. I remem- ber when the Sublette Mills were struck by lightning and burned. I remember the storm that blew the steeple off the Catholic Church. I remember when, in a dry time, men who were digging what the farmers called a 'slough well' uncovered a dead man, and I was pres- ent when Immanuel Bee confessed to having shot his father, and was de- clared to have done it in self-defense. 'Mannie' Bee was the Samson of Sub- lette. I remember when he carried a hundred pounds of flour a mile for the flour, and did not set down the load at the end of the mile, but danced a jig at the town pump and walked home with the flour. I was present when Mannie Bee had to lay down the cham- pionship, for I crowded into Newt Pumphrey's tin-shop when Mannie got his thrashing. I was not present when he shot himself, poor fellow. He said, as I was told, that if he had been punished a little, a year in jail or some- thing like that, he could have endured it, but though he had shot his drunken assailant in self-defense, still he could not endure the remorse of having killed his father." {The Autobiography of William E. Barton) Poems of Human Interest A mother's legacy to her children An attractive book of 720 pages 8 pictures Price $2.00 LILLIAN A. RAPP P.O. Box 22 Sublette, Illinois KING FURNITURE STORE Free Delivery 707 Washington Dial 6816 Mendota Centennial Greetings About 1920 — before the ar- rival of U. S. 52 — the east side of the Village as seen from the Hater tower and RIVERDALE CHEMICALS L. J. HENKEL Sublette, Illinois Compliments State Representative JOSEPH P. STREMLAU Mendota, Illinois 38th District Compliments of ERRES CLOTHING Mendota, III. 37 i^onaratuiationd to S^ubiette I 9 Farmers Telephone Company Main Office, Franklin Grove, Illinois Farmers Telephone Company of Lee County Early Telephone Service in Sublette In 1896 Brown Garrett built what was to be the first telephone line in or around Sub- lette. This line went from the George Lauer store to his home. In a short time this line was extended out to the Garrett farm and later to the Chas. B. Hatch farm. This was the beginning of telephone service for Sub- lette. The following year, 1897, a company be- gan operating in and between Sublette and Mendota. This was known as the Mendota- Sublette Telephone Company, which was, it seems, without access to other communi- ties. This system operated for several years. There was no switchboard at either end, all subscribers being on one line and getting into contact with one another by signal rings. Likewise, all subscribers could mere- ly lift the receiver and listen to all traffic in the system. Then in 1903, the present Farmers Tele- phone Company of Lee County was organ- ized and today the company operates five exchanges — Amboy, Ashton, Franklin Grove, Lee Center, and Sublette and has over 2,000 subscribers. The present officers of the company are: A. F. Jeanblanc, General Manager; L. W. Feik, President; Walter Erbes, Vice Presi- dent; Charles B. Hatch, Secretary; L. R. Jeanblanc, Treasurer; Frank Butler, Direc- tor; Ferdinand Jeanblanc, Director. 38 LOCAL FREIGHT RUNS OVER HISTORIC "GRUBER LINE" The run up the original line from La Salle to Freeport, Illinois, (directly through Sublette] is through a rich agricultural and industrial territory. The "Gruber Line" is one or" those nicknames that has been used on the Illinois Central for many years without anyone seeming to know the origin of the name. Officially, the "Gruber" is the 162-mile line stretching from Clin- ton to Freeport, Illinois, the Amboy District of the Springfield Division. It is part of the original main line built in the early '50's. Freight conductor E. T. Emerich of Freeport seems to have the answer to the mystery of the name in a story told him years ago by retired Conductor "Pat" Crosson, also of Freeport. "Pat" claims the name was originated by a switchman named "Honest" Kline. The latter was waiting in the yards at Free- port for the Amboy freight to come rolling in. Freight traffic must have been pretty heavy that day, for when Kline saw the train he exclaimed, "Here comes that gruber-grabbin' so and so with a million cars!" Those within hearing distance must have been impressed with Switchman Kline's coined expression, for the nick- name stuck. To this day the Amboy District, whose rails have run smack down the middle of the state for near- ly a hundred years, is popularly known as the "Gruber" line. In palmier days the "Gruber" fea- tured a first-class passenger service that was abandoned when the automobile entered the field of mass transportation. Today, however, the "Old Main" is a single-track, freight line which gives the Illinois Central a second north- south heavy tonnage route through Illinois. A ride on the "Gruber" shows it to be a lively carrier of fast freight. The line serves a thriving territory where a mixture of industry and agriculture add to the wealth of the state. A typical local train on this district [through Sublette] is No. 394, the La Salle to Freeport run. As the sun slow- ly gives its warning that day is begin- ning, the yard at La Salle bustles with activity ... As the local rolls on, picking up speed, the country levels out into the typical farm country of Northern Illinois . . . One learns that the "Gruber Line" was completed be- tween Cairo and La Salle in January, 1855, and between La Salle and East Dubuque the following June. The first passenger train service between Chicago and Cairo was inaugurated that year via the Burlington to Mendota, 111., where passengers transferred to the Illinois Central for the completion of their journey. 185 5 was an eventful year for pas- sengers and shippers between Galena and Cairo, for it was then the Illinois Central established a daily freight train run each way plus a daily passenger train each way. The train between Cairo and Galena had the added attraction of connecting with the numerous stage routes north and west of Galena . . . Small towns had sprung up and then disappeared, no longer needed in this day of expanded transportation and hard roads. Rich farm lands now cover some of these town sites. Although a town of only 5,000, Mendota is served by three large rail- road systems - - the Illinois Central, the Burlington, and Milwaukee. Sig- nificantly, Mendota, an Indian word, means junction or crossing of three trails. After leaving the control tower, the two officers call at the station, which was remodeled recently. Agent Theodore Helbig and Walter C. Milar, freight clerk, proudly show off their new quarters. This freight building is one of Mendota's oldest brick struc- tures. It was constructed in 1852, when it was used as a depot. During the Civil War soldiers were loaded and unloaded at the platform. Agent Hel- big points out to visitors the original wooden beams in the ceiling. These beams are held together with the origi- nal hand-made wooden dowels. At the end of each beam are slots hewn out by hand in which are inserted wooden end-pins. Engineer Nelson toots a warning that the switching has been completed. The travelers climb aboard for the run to Amboy, 16 miles away [through Sublette] ... It is nearing noon when the local arrives at Amboy, where the engine takes on coal and water. The crew ties up on the switching track during lunch. Not far from the station is the Amboy condensary, from which condensed milk is shipped to Europe and Asia . . . The local picks up a car of con- densed milk destined to Chicago and proceeds on to Eldena, where it switches out a car of company ties . . . Next stop along the line for the local is Dixon, III., where there are five cars of ties to be picked up for de- livery . . . It passes Woosung, named after a town in China by Captain Anderson, former station agent who sailed the seven seas before he became a rail- roader . . . The next station also has a name associated with distant lands: Polo, named for Marco Polo, the fa- mous Venetian traveler . . . Forreston is the last switching stop for the day . . . Before long the yard limit sign at Freeport may be seen in the distance. The conductor's watch shows five o'clock . . . The crew of the local heads for its supper. They will be back together tomorrow morning for the return down the "Gruber" to La Salle [and back again through Sub- lette], {Illinois Central Magazine, February, 1950, pages 15-17, through courtesy of T. J. Helbig) T. J. Helbig has worked for the I. C. R. R. for 44 years. For 19 years he was the agent at Sublette, staying longer than any man before or since him. He and his wife Elizabeth (Betty) came to Sublette on March 26, 1926, and since that time have done much for the betterment of the community spirit and progress. '■ mi iiiiii , m» Walter Lonimalzseli and Ted Helbig in front of old I. C. depot 39 Did You Know That? Helbig Milk Products won Illinois State Fair prizes in the cheese division both in 1953 and 1954, and in 1938 in Nebraska? Congratulations to Sublette on its Centennial from the Newest Member of this Community! LEFFELMAN MEAT CENTER Retail — Meats & Foods — Wholesale We feature Choice Aged Beef — Country Fresh Pork — Tempting Hickory Cured Meats Delicious Sausage For the first time in this section of Illinois you can rent a dependable G. E. Food Freezer (empty or filled) Come In — Let us save you dollars mm Wedding picture of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Lindstrom. She tvas the former Margaret Theiss, daughter of Barthol- omaeus Theiss. Lindstrom built the first hotel and also the Perkins Grove Catholic Church ALPHABETICAL ROSTER OF EARLY SETTLERS IN SUBLETTE TOWNSHIP Name Date of Settlement Place of Origin Anderson, H. 1843 Maine Angier, T. S. Austin, E. 1841 1838 New Hampshire Canada Bansau, Henry, Sr. Bartlett, P. 1857 1844 Holstein, Germany Massachusetts Barton, J. B. Benton, H. 1846 1846 New Jersey Massachusetts Benton, Horace 1854 Massachusetts Berkley, B. F. Bettendorf, J. 1845 1865 Virginia Prussia Betz, J. Bieber, George 1844 I860 Germany Rheinhessen, Gern Black, J. 1853 Ireland Bowen, I. 1858 Massachusetts Bradshaw, J. E. 1846 Illinois Brandon, G. W. 1871 Illinois Brown, R. M. 1864 New York Brown, W. E. 1856 New York Buetter, A. Camp, L. Chapman, H .C. 1870 1845 1855 Germany Pennsylvania Massachusetts Clink, A. H. Clink, J. 1843 1847 Pennsylvania New York Coleman, T. M. 1866 Ohio Coleman, W. 1847 Pennsylvania Cook, J. S. 1848 Pennsylvania Crawford, G. M. 1844 Pennsylvania Dexter, J. 1838 Canada Dexter, W. 1838 Canada 40 Namt Date of Settlemi >u Place of Or, Eastei (Oester), H. ISM Germany Eastei (Oester), John L855 Germany Easter (Oester), ]. IS^O Germany lulls. S. |. 1845 Ohio Ellsworth, L. IS IS Pennsylvania Erskine, H. N. L839 Ohio ' Fessenden, E. L839 Illinois Fessenden, G. T. 1837 New Hampshire Fluer, B. L858 Germany Frey, H. L853 Germany 1'rey, P. 1851 Germany Gardner, F. B. 1861 MassaLhusetts Gentry, J. H. 1852 North Carolina Hale, A. 1844 Pennsylvania Hall, I. 1855 Ohio Hatch,' S. L. 1837 Vermont Hoffman, H. 1845 Germany Hubbard, R. P. 1844 Massachusetts Ingals, C. H. 1846 Illinois Ireland, W. W. 1853 Virginia Kasper, P. H. 1854 Germany Lauer, A. 1848 Germany Lewis, E. M. 1845 New York Lippincott, S .G. 1859 New Jersey Long, John 1845 Pennsylvania Long, J. H. 1848 Canada Lovering, Eliza 1844 Massachusetts Malach, J. G. 1854 Germany Mead, Levi 1862 New York Methven, J. S. 1844 Scotland Michel, J. 1852 Germany Morse, H. R. 1858 New Hampshire Morse, Walter 1869 Massachusetts Neis, S. 1866 Germany Nicholis, E. E. 1868 Germany Oberhelman, F. 1866 Missouri Peterson, J. 1837 New York Peterson, N. 1842 New York Reis, M. 1844 Germany Reniff, S. D. 1844 New York Rex, L. R. 1853 Ohio Richardson, E. C 1849 New Hampshire Schwab, P. 1847 Germany Scott, D. 1854 Ohio Shoemacher, J. 1857 Prussia Smith, N. W. 1855 New York Stannard, A. L. 1857 New York Stannard, C. E. 1845 New York Stannard, G. D. 1858 New York Stannard, N. 1845 New York Stenger, G. I860 Germany Stepham, I. 1854 Germany Stilz, J. 1856 Germany Swartwout, A. W. 1845 Illinois Swartwout, N. F. 1845 Illinois Theiss, B. 1846 Germany Theiss, G. 1846 Germany Theiss, J. 1846 Germany Theiss, John 1846 Germany Tourtillott, W. D. 1840 Maine Trowbridge, L. P. 1855 Massachusetts Wattles, H. P. 1870 New York White, G. H. 1850 Vermont Wilder, A. L. 1855 Massachusetts Willmarth, C A. 1866 Vermont Woerter, H. 1857 Germany Wolf, J. 1853 Germany Compliments of THE MENDOTA REPORTER "Serving Sublette and Area" Congratulations Sublette LEO'S STUDIO Portrait & Commercial PHOTOGRAPHY Weddings — Family Groups 710y 2 Main Street Phone 4157 Mendota Greetings to our friends in Sublette on your Centennial BILLS CHATTERBOX Mendota Excellent Food Fine Liquors Compliments of DIXON FRUIT COMPANY 41 KJur C^LcLCll V of J erpetuai ^hretL f (church About 1846 an itinerant missionary read the first Mass in this vicinity for a small colony of German Catholic immigrants in a private home of Per- kins Grove, about four miles south- west of the Village. Through the in- stigation of the Theiss family, Paul Lindstrom, an 1849 immigrant car- penter and architect, in 1853 constructed the old frame church with its hand- carved altar, both of which still exist today. This was served for several years by priests from Freeport and Ottawa. It had been in May of the year 1846 that the family of Bartholomaeus Theiss, consisting of himself, his wife, four sons, and three daughters, settled down at Perkins Grove. This was one of the very first families to come di- rectly from Germany to take its footing in Lee County. He soon drew many friends and relatives from the Old World to this vicinity. It was a little later then, through the kind efforts of Father Stehle of LaSalle that $400.00 were obtained for a reli- gious cause at Lyons, France. Instead permission was given to use this money to build the new chapel at Perkins Grove in 1853. Parishioners came here from Sublette, West Brooklyn, and Maytown. In I860 a parish house was built in the Grove and Father M. J. Clarke be- came its first resident pastor. In 1866 a parochial school and a teachers' resi- dence were also put up. This school was probably the first of its kind in a rural district in the State. On Christ- mas, 1870, however, a fire destroyed these two buildings and wrote the end of the Perkins Grove school activities. During the decade of 1870 to 1880 three divisions occurred: Sublette, West Brooklyn, and Maytown. The Grove lost its resident pastor, becoming a mis- sion for a few years and ultimately abandoned. The Sublette division under Father A. Buetter had already built a frame church in the Village in 1868. The little house across the road was bought for a rectory and served as that until 1919. During his pastorate from 1870- 1876 Father Buetter administered to Sublette two Sundays a month, one to 42 Rev. Ediv. J. Lehman, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church Perkins Grove, and one to Twin Grove. Father Francis Schreiber, his succes- sor from 1876-1877, paid off the debt on the new church, bought new win- dows, and built a gallery. Besides, he built and paid for the first Catholic school in the Village of Sublette, served since that time by the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Various pastors served at Sublette between the years 18"^ and 1902, when bather Joseph Rempe came and made plans for the construction of a new brick church. In 1902 Father C. Tasche took charge, remaining for three years and four months. Shortly after his arrival, he undertook the building of the present magnificent church. At the time there were only 68 families in the parish. The church was built at a cost of S60,000, by all odds the most beautiful and expensive in the country at the time, and un- doubtedly conceived on a scale very elaborate for a small village, being massive from without and from with- in exquisite from every point of art. The new St. Mary's Church, or later specifically entitled Our Lady of Per- petual Help by Father Weitekamp, was finished in 1905. Father H. J. Hausser was the first priest to read Mass in it. Father C. F. Mertens served from 1906 to 1909, reducing the debt by half. The estate of 59,000.00 of Jacob and Catherine Michel was used for the installation of imported, burnt-glass window-, of German manufacture. Other important donations at the time were: the main altar, hand-carved, by Joseph Bettendorf; vestments, also by Joseph Bettendorf; set of chimes by Chas. E. Bettendorf, later christened by Bishop Muldoon in 1913. During his pastorate from 1909 to 1913 Father A. A. Hagen built the new convent, the old one having been destroyed by fire, and brought the Sisters back to the Village. He re- modeled the rectory and paid off the remaining S3, 000. 00 of the church debt. He bought two more church bells, also blessed by Bishop Muldoon in 1913. From 1913 to 1923 the Right Rev. M. A. Schumacher, now of St. Nicho- las parish of Aurora, served as pastor. In 1914 he constructed a new school building and a new Sl4,000 rectory. The old rectory was sold and moved and is now the residence of Francis Morrissey. In 1915 new sheds were put up, and in 1916 he paid off the school debt. In 1917 the balance of the debt on other church property was paid off. In 1920 the old cemetery was moved to its new line, and in 1921 the convent was brick-veneered and moved in line with the rectory. Monsignor M. B. Krug served from 1923 to 1925, making various improve- ments in the church property. Fathers Win. Dommemuth and Victor Mekitis each were here one year. Between 1926 and 1940 Father Jo- seph J. Weitekamp was pastor. In spite of the nationwide depression he man- aged to have the beautiful Holstein Rubber flooring laid throughout the entire church for the sum of $5,500.00. The window of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, donated by the Michael Lauer and Charles Becker families, was in- stalled in the vestibule* of the church. The present pastor, Father Edward }. Lehman, came in 194(). Under his pastorate the church was redecorated, new lighting fixtures added, other im- provements were made about the church property, and a new Wick organ was installed at a cost of $8,000 in prepa- ration for the Golden Jubilee celebra- tion of the church in October, 1952. In the course of its history several young men have left the parish to en- ter the priesthood: Fathers Paul Halb- maier, James Lauer, O. S. B., Eugene Lauer, O. S. B., Wilfred Lauer, S. J., Robert Myers, S. V. D., and Charles D. Becker, M. S. C. Roger Burkardt is still pursuing his course of studies. In addition many young ladies have entered the convent : Sister M. Romana Leffelman, O. S. F. Sister M. Innocentia Doran, O. S. F. Sister M. Antonine Doran, O. S. F. Sister M. Liboria Hildmann, O. S. F. Sister M. Charitas Kuehna, O. S. F. Sister M. Dolorosa Theiss, O. S. F. Sister M. Agnes Kuehna, O. S. F. Sister M. Ursalita Schuhler, O. S. F. Sister M. Ivo Henkel, O. S. F. Sister M. Edwardis Lauer, O. S. F. Sister M. Agnes Marie Henkel, O. S. F. Sister M. Pius Theiss, O. S. F. Sister M. Rene Theiss, O. S. F. Sister M. Martinelle Bonnell, O. S. F. The present Sisters in charge of St. Mary's School arc: Sister M. Adelaide, O. S. F., Superior Sister M. Anania, O. S. F. Sister M. Basilia, O. S. F. Sister M. Louisanne, O. S. F. Sister M. Albert, O. S. F. Did You Know That? Items of church property turned to secular usage: old Catholic school moved to Peter Reinhart's residence; Francis Morrissey's home was the former Catholic rectory; Frank Myer's home, former Baptist rectory; Catherine Malach's home, a former Methodist church ? Sublette Village really started on the east side of the tracks, where the section house used to be? The oldest residential building is the Letl home? Sublette has always produced out- standing teams in softball, baseball, and in these sports has won the league in various years? Also around Sublette horseshoes, tennis, and bowling are or have been favored pastimes? The first mile of black-top road west of Sublette was laid in 1951? A town was originally platted at Knox Grove with the laying out of lots on the county line? Bubby Lovering has held down the job of law enforcement longer than any of his predecessors ? The Village Pantry, erected in 1947, was the first spanking new store build- ing erected for years in the business section ? Frank Letl, Jr., holds the qualifica- tion of a Field Museum taxidermist? 43 u nion Church To understand the present organiza- tion of the Union Church of Sublette, one has to revert historically to the beginnings of another denomination. This was the Baptist Church, organ- ized in 1843 in Jonathan Peterson's log house with thirteen members. It was known as the First Baptist Church of Palestine Grove. To accom- modate the members, meetings were held alternately on both sides of the Grove. This was the first Protestant Church established within the con- fines of Sublette Township. The Rev. Henry Headley of La Moille was its first pastor. The present Village church was con- structed by the Baptists before the Civil War and was dedicated in November, 1858. The building, now in the pos- session of the United Brethren, remains as when originally built with but very few changes. The steeple, which was of an unusual type of architecture to be found in this locality, was partly re- moved a few years ago. But the main building itself stands as when first put up. Stone walls which extend several feet from the ground level, as the older residents of Sublette state, were hauled from the quarry at Lee Center. By 1900 there were few Baptist members left. For about 10 years the Lutherans rented the church building for services. A minister from the Chi- cago Road Church preached in the afternoons. Furthermore, deaths which occurred among the families and the moving away of others from the community of the Baptist and Congregational Churches left only a few Protestant families. Those remaining decided to join to- gether and form the Union Church, using either the Baptist or the Congre- gational church edifice, and selling the other. From 1910 to 1921 the Baptist building was rented from the Baptist Society. On August 25, 1921, the mem- bers of the Union Church bought the building for $1500.00. In 1910 electric lights were installed. In 1919 a bell was hung in the tower. In 1935 the steeple which was getting worn from the weather was removed. It had an unusual weather vane on top 44 Rev. Alvin H. Smith. Sublette Union Church pastor of the which was five feet and six inches hori- zontally and 371/7 inches vertically. In June, 1935, a parsonage was pur- chased from Jacob F. Becker for the sum of $700.00 in order that a resident pastor might be employed. In December, 1947, the wood burn- ing stoves with their long pipes which extended the full length of the audi- torium and were a novelty to the visi- tors of the church were removed. A new modern oil-burning furnace was installed. In January, 1954, a general remodel- ing job was started. The wall paper was removed and the walls and ceiling were covered with canvas and painted. New asphalt floors were laid. Two frost-proof toilets and rest rooms were built in. From 1910 to 1921 the members assembled each week for Sunday school and services without any particular or- ganization having been formed. On August 22, 1921, a constitution was adopted and a charter was legally re- corded in the courthouse at Dixon. From 1910 to the present time min- isters were supplied by the Evangelical Seminary at Naperville. On some oc- casions ministers came from Moody- Bible Institute in Chicago and also from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Most of the ministers have been students. Ministers of the Sublette Union Church Reverends: Years Served: John Hoch 1912-13 Orville Lozier 1913-16 Edward Dahn 1916-17 Philip Koenkhe 1918-19 Frank A. Bauerman 1920-21 H. E. Bollinger 1921-22 Fred P. Harris 1922-25 John E. Hopkins 1926-27 Philip J. Schwabenland 1927-28 Orlando Hehn, Wilbur Harr (Alternate Sundays) 1928-29 Harold D. Oescher 1929-34 Orin M. Bailey 1934-36 Thurman H. Tobias 1936-37 Darrell A. Davis 1937-40 Clarence Dehne 1940-42 Fordyce W. Tyler 1942-43 Roger H. Ginter 1943-45 Charles W. Semke 1946-49 Donald Kurtz 1949-51 Harold E. Utzinger 1951-52 James R. Reid 1952-54 Clive Cook 1954-56 Alvin H. Smith 1956-57 (Contributed by W. Ralph Long) -»*•"»"•-»■"—-••-»-••-»— -—"»-"— •-»—-»— -—-y Do you remember? SUBLETTE CENTENNIAL PROGRAM August 17 and 18, 1957 * Saturday, August I 7: 1 2:00: Official Opening of Centennial Celebra- tion 1 2:30: Testimonial Dinner 2:00: Pet Parade 3:00: Ball Games 8:00: HANNORAMA: Pag-; eant of the First " Century of Sub- lette's History 1 1 :00: Street Dance * Sunday, August 18: Morning: Church Services 2:00: Centennial Parade 4:00: HANNORAMA 6:00: Lunch 8:00: HANNORAMA When in 1939 there was the story of the weird lights in the Graveyard at Sublette ? When the Liberty Bond truck came to town? The big fire at the Roemmich farm, with firemen from Sublette, Mendota, Amboy, and West Brooklyn on the scene? Did You Knoiv That? Henry Bansau, Jr., got only one lick- ing in his life from his father? This was the time that he cut a good piece of calfskin leather to make a razor strap for Chas. Gardner? There is a man by the name of New- ton buried in the Peterson Cemetery, who was a veteran of the War of 1812? The Saturday, March 6, 1852, edi- tion of The Dixon Evening Telegraph carried a diagram of the route of the Illinois Central Railroad, crossing the Illinois River at La Salle .... touch- ing the southwest point of Knox Grove, crossing Inlet on Sec. 22, Township 20, Range 10, about half way between Binghampton and Shelburn? Those Were the Days! Hoiv a Freight Ticket Read (property of W. Ralph Long) "William R. Long, Sublette, April 10, 1856. Illinois Central Railroad Dr. Freight from Mendota, Illinois, to Sub- lette, Illinois. 1 chest — wt. 80 lbs. Charge 25c. Expenses: Chicago, Illi- nois, C. B. Q. RR. to Mendota, $1.53. Total $1.78." 45 ^rroApital "J4< ^OApi ome »/ ^Jwiliaht r ^leei Dr. B. H. S. Angear, who had owned and operated a drug store in Chicago from 1892-1899, graduated from the Illinois Medical College in 1900. His father, Dr. John James M. Angear, was on the staff, as pro- fessor of nervous and mental diseases. He wanted his son "Ben" to remain in Chicago to start his medical career. However, the "new Dr. Angear" believed that living in a small town would offer a chance for better and greater opportunity for development in his life's work. A choice of a location was then in question. Fortunately, a classmate, who had borrowed a few dollars from Dr. Angear, lived in Ohio, Illinois, and at this time offered to pay off his small debt by asking Dr. Angear to come out from Chicago to Ohio by train. Then with his father's team they would drive about this part of the country in search of a good place in which to establish a medical practice. Within a few days the two young doctors in a horse-drawn buggy drove out of Ohio early one morning in the year 1900. That afternoon they passed through La Moille and May- town. As they were driving eastward, they soon approached Sublette, and Dr. Angear said to his companion, "Stop the team! This is my town! Even the barns are painted and this country looks prosperous! I shall look no further." So within a few moments he entered the Village of Sublette, where he was to be the "family doctor" of the people of this vicinity during the following forty years. At once he looked for a suitable place for an office. This seemed to be the space above Andy Lauer's Hardware Store, but there was no outside stairway. When Doc insisted that steps be built, Andy hesitated A 1910 view of the new Angear Hospital. Standing on the porch are the first two nurses, Mary McLaughlin anil Kathryn McKeever, with Dr. and Mrs. Angear and said, "See here, young feller, how do I know you won't be out of here in a couple of weeks, and I don't need the stairs!" Consequently, out of the sum of $25.00 which Dr. Angear possessed when he so recently left his Chicago home, he paid cash for an outside stairway to be built in order to make it possible for the patients to reach his office. There was then exactly enough cash left with which to pay the hotel in advance for one week's board. Having no office furniture, he made some out of packing boxes, and with the small amount of medi- cine from his satchel, he set up the practice of medicine in the Village of Sublette. There was at this time an elderly doctor practicing here who retired a short while later. His name was Dr. Owens. Pete Reinhart and Henry Roem- mich were Dr. Angear's first patients. Mrs. Angear and daughter Evelyn had remained in their home in Chicago until fall when there was assurance that Sublette really needed a doctor. Their first home here was in the room adjoining Dr. Angear's office. It seems that each year the territory to be covered about Sublette became more widespread, and a second team was necessary for the doctor, with a driver at all times. The hardship of visit- ing patients over such a scattered area was responsible for the idea of build- ing the "Angear Hospital" in 1910. 46 From this time on the practice of obstetrics became more easily and safely managed. During the first years after the building of the hospital, plans were made to perfect a method of painless childbirth. On December 1, 1914, the first "twilight sleep" baby was born. The parents were Mr. and Mrs. Pete Koehler and the child, Lucille Koehler, who is now Mrs. Dearl Ellsworth of Mendota. Within a few years Dr. Angear's method of child delivery became so popular that expectant mothers came from many surrounding states to the "Angear Hospital" for maternity care. So, after two score years of faith- ful service for the people of our community, Dr. Angear retired from medical practice in the spring of 1940. (Written by Mabel Vincent) Do you remember? When Doctor Smith, with full beard, came down the street and gave the kids a penny for a kiss? In 1902 Dr. Jacob B. Barton pub- lished "Dr. J. B. Barton's Memoran- dum Book" or "Dr. Barton's Family Remedies," advertising and recom- mending his famous Golden Ointment and Rhubarb Cordial for every kind of ailment from piles to pleurisy? Dr. Ansear in his netc Rambler coming home from one of his many- sick calls to the countryside Autobiographical Statistics: Dr. Benjamin Horace Smith Angear Born Jan. 29, 1871, at Fort Madison, Iowa; Moved to Chicago when 11 years old; Became a graduate in pharmacy in 1892; Owned a drug store in Chicago from 1893 to 1899; Graduated in medicine in 1900 from the Illinois Medical College of Chicago; Moved to Sublette, 111., Oct. 15, 1900; Joined the Masonic Lodge in 1902; Built my hospital in 1910; Appointed local surgeon for 111. Cen- tral R. R. in 1920; First "twilight sleep" baby born Dec. 1, 1914. My father was born in England and came to this country when 9 years old; My mother was the first white child born in Racine County, Wisconsin; My father and mother were both prin- cipals of schools in Berlin, Wis.; My father was commissioned by Pres- ident Lincoln to be quarantine sur- geon of Pensacola Harbor during the Civil War; My mother's father was Benjamin Smith, her name being before her marriage Sophia Smith. 1 ttm a member of the Masons and wish to be buried by the Masons; I am a member of the A. M. A.; I am a -member of the 111. State Med- ical Society; I am a member of the Lee County Medical Society. PIONEER DOCTORS Dr. Richard F. Adams, whose bride was Miss Deborah Ingals, was the practicing physician whose coming was a great relief to the settlers. Driving over the prairies through the sloughs, fording streams often with gun on shoulder in the troublesome times, he doctored to all. In after years many spoke of the benefits they received. He died in Denver, Colorado, and his re- mains were interred in the Lee Center Cemetery, amid the friends and scenes of his earlier years. Dr. Welsh, later of Galesburg, and Dr. Ephraim Ingals of Chicago, were among the young physicians. Dr. Charles Gardner also traversed the prairies in sunshine and storm. His experiences have been graphically written by his daughter, Mrs. E. E. Smith nee Seraphine Gard- ner, and published in the Recollections of the Pioneers. He is laid to rest in the family burial lot near the scenes of his first "home seeking." Many memories cluster around the lives of these early doctors. Did You Know That? Medicine shows were common sights on Main Street? Do you remember? Who owned the first auto around Sublette? FAMILY DOCTOR What a pity it is that the old family doctor, whom we all looked upon as a sort of God, seems to be more and more a thing of the past. This is an age of specialists, and this has so di- vided the human body that we almost need a dozen doctors to keep up along the healthy road. As Dr. Alexis Carrel has so well stated the fact, I quote him: "When a specialist, from the beginning of his career, confines himself to a minute part of the body, his knowledge of the rest is so rudimentary that he is in- capable of thoroughly understanding even that part in which he specializes." The grand family doctor, about whom so many of us know, was a four- square human being who knew the en- tire body and all its works. And he had sympathy and understanding. He gave as little medicine as possible, but he usually knew what to do in any emer- gency, and he wasn't afraid to give plenty of cheer to his patients, and that without a fee! (SELECTED) CENTRAL OIL COMPANY Harold J. Sonntag and Leo W. Hochstatter, Props. Distributors of Conoco Products Firestone Batteries & Tires Illinois & Jefferson Streets Dial 2214 Mendota Best Wishes for your next 100 years MOTOR DISCOUNT CO. Automobile Financing Mendota, Illinois Fertilizer Rock Phosphate Critic Feeds Seeds WALTON FARM SUPPLY N. Main & 51 Phone 6416 Mendota 47 The Sublette Village School, District 103 S^ubieth ^Jownshi r ^chootd HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN SUBLETTE TOWNSHIP Mrs. Ellice Dinges "School days, school days, Dear old golden rule days" To many of the citizens of Sublette and the surrounding community these familiar words bring back fond memories of days spent in the Village School, situated one half block off U. S. Highway 52 on the east side of town. The old two-story red brick building, now almost one hundred years old, has long been symbolic of our community's interest in the education of its youth. School records, though somewhat sketchy, give us a picture of the history of education in the Sublette area. The earliest record available seems to be the one found in an old edition of the History of Lee County, pages 252-253. This account reads as follows: "The school land was sold about 1850 and the town was soon divided into ten districts. On each of these is a good school- house. There is also a school in connection with the Catholic Church at the Village. As early as 1841 there was a Sunday school started in the Tourtillott neighborhood. This was not in connection with any church. The prime movers in this work were Mr. Tourtillott and Mrs. Angier. It was not continued more than a year or two. The first school was in a log house on Tom Fessen- den's farm. The next was in a slab building on the farm of Thomas Tourtil- lott. This was a structure used for preemption purposes and was never in- tended for a schoolhouse. It was afterwards known as a 'sheep pen.' Marie Codman of New York was the first teacher here. The next school in this vicinity was taught in winter by Joseph Carey in Mrs. Tourtillott's house, and the next of any importance in Mrs. Richardson's house by John Bacon about 1850. The third school in the town of Sublette was a log house on Section 5. 48 Mrs. Clute, a sister of Jonathan Peterson, taught the first summer school here about 1844. The winter school held here tor several years was quite important, being well attended by an advanced class of students. " Over in the eastern part of the Township, at Knox Grove was a vacant log house, the first built in that neighborhood, and inhabited by William Knox, where school was first taught by Stephen Barton. The second term was kept in a "lean to" about 12 by 16 feet, attached to Daniel Pratt's house. The first Sunday school was organized in these same narrow quarters. This was in the summer of 1847. Later meetings and Sunday school were conducted at Levi Camp's log house until the log schoolhouse was erected. The first schoolhouse in Knox Grove settlement was built on the county line on the north side of the Chicago and Galesburg Road in the year 1848 and accommodated pupils from Sublette, West Brooklyn and Mendota Townships. For a number of years it also served the purpose of a church. According to an official record in the Recorder's office in the Lee County courthouse at Dixon, Illinois, school property was purchased from the Illinois Central Railroad Company in 1861. Said property is described as follows: "real estate lying and being in the town of Sublette, in the County of Lee and State of Illinois, particularly described in the recorded plot of said town as lots Eleven and Twelve of block number Five for school purposes." This transaction was carried out for the consideration of ten dollars be- tween the school trustees, namely, John Wood, Daniel Baird, and Sylvanus Peterson, and the Illinois Central Railroad Company, represented by William H. Osborne, company president, on July 25, 1861. This record bears the official seal of one Peter Daggy, notary public. KUEBEL'S STANDARD SERVICE Main & Mason Amboy, Illinois Phone 101 Atlas Tires, Batteries and Accessories Washing & Greasing j/ KS7- A*////- ^ /fart J^'rtU* /, faTfa*f, /**/ £ J^W ■^^t/'.ju/- r j,l f , /%™ M *! >/ ' $T /jdjruittr '^Ji-^Ar' /U-^/ \uZn6 ,&/»"< +s -^"i&T -m jit S~~A— Sjj* &// 2/Ja**, if & SOes 4;j*dL. &** -4£ci. <&•;«*, .^ '*» At/tils' -Austt/, ■# ">€s? ' 4tr> «*s **/' At"/- d*S ■& '/U*S /v**S~<**7. VKT" SatlS AiAhZ&s. a$*/ a7~4{i /xs £*/>*/* AfjfcafjP/* Av^ *&7 r' 'jfc j&ttxut? M . /I art-/ AnS <9*iS*fr&&a£c/ At/ad w /* /trnyi/^/ frr/ a?^ { J&r ^f*/~ -it~^u^' .& s+~*, ^ /Off /fAsyitZ: ^Hsi&t~ l/y??7 t »H/~~»7/% //ft SatS A7/7*»&A~ &n 6 reus ml m Aff'^' ^Ci A>*u*^£Jmu..~ 1/ /fZ yjt/ J^/nuMJ Aum A/ 4i/av>anf smj a&LS ■ /fvrjf/' /2/lt>*y i M? Jfc- A&* *r **rr~ ~. JUL ^f^, P/X/Ufim, ■£%*/ ?u J#tu/*ns //*nr^- /ra. /t Atei>' a/su s&. JkimulcJ Skid tntryot- jt^&fl//* '^Jtr—C ^,/^^-y^ -" .>!U//ti»' t /ft/ J%r />»/ /A.; J_,Srsr-«j , xr.^^^'t^ VX~ Photostat of Original Document describing the transaction whereby school land was purchased from the I. C. in July, 1861 The ten districts in the Township with the exception of the Village School (District No. 103) operated as one-room rural schools, each having a three- man schoolboard, and employing one teacher for all eight grades. County rec- ords show that these schools eventually closed, one by one, until in 1946 the last to close its doors was District No. 106. Records list the dates of closing in this order: District No. 100, in 1939; District No. 101, no school; District No. 102, in 1934; District No. 104, in 1922; District No. 105, in 1945; District No. 106, in 1946; District No. 107, in 1942; District No. 107, in 1942; Dis- Compliments of NATIONAL FARM LOAN ASSN. OF AMBOY M. W. Kessinger, Sec'y.-Treas. Phone 333 Amboy, Illinois CLASSON'S SUPER FOODS Mendota, Illinois High in Value Low in Price 49 Compliments of MENDOTA MONUMENT COMPANY 606 South Main St. Mendota, Illinois Telephone 7276 Artistic Memorials Compliments of GISH JEWELRY & GIFT SHOP two stores to serve you Mendota Amboy Compliments of MERRITT FUNERAL HOME Mendota, Illinois Township Schools and Teachers as of Jan. 1, 1914: Gentry School, District No. 100, Hermina Hcckcr; Ingals, District No. 101, (no school); Clink, District No. 102, Carolyn Kuc-hna; Sublette, District No. 103, Lulu B. Long, Vcrna Wood; Austin, District No. 104, Clara Erbes; Ells- worth, District No. 105, Irene Harvey; Angler, District No. 106, Hen- rietta Erbes; Rets, District No. 107, Marie Koesler; Battle tt, District No. 108, Marjorie Snider; Henkel, District No. 109, Lydia E. Steder. trict No. 108, in 1941; District No. 109, in 1942. With the closing of the one-room schools, the children were transported to schools in towns nearby, many entering the Sublette Public School, District No. 103. The Village School itself operated as a two-room school under the County school system. Two teachers were employed, one for the upper grades and the other for the lower grades. However, for short periods of time throughout its history, it, too, has operated as a one-room rural school when the enrollment did not merit the expenditure of money to employ two teachers. In the spring of 1949 the Amboy Unit District was formed by a vote of the people. Legal organization was completed by July 1, 1949, and the first classes were held beginning September 1, 1949, as the Amboy Community Unit, District No. 272, Lee County, Illinois. By this time the people of the community began to feel the need for a new school in Sublette. The school building, now old and badly in need of repair, presented the first problem. To repair it would mean only a temporary solution. The now ever-increasing enrollment plus a constantly mount- ing teacher load made it almost imperative that the citizens look ahead and build. And so with the future in mind, a School Survey Committee was formed in the Amboy Community Unit, District No. 272, to study the educational needs of the area. Those from Sublette serving on this committee in the interest of education included: George Henrich, Jr., Wilfred Ehlbeck, Ivan Politsch, George Thier, Jr., Clark Angier, William Florschuetz, Harold July, Jr., Mrs. Ralph Ultch. As a result of their intensive research and effort the voters went to the polls on November 5, 1955, and voted to build four new elementary schools in the District and to construct an addition to Central School in Amboy. One of these elementary schools was to be erected in Sublette on the new Henry Roem- mich property just west of the Sublette Community Building. The new four-room school, now nearly completed, will be ready for oc- cupancy by September 1, 1957. How fitting that, as we close a century of his- tory in our little Village, our youth should begin a new century of learning in a new school. Sublette can justly be proud of its progress in education through- out the years as the century draws to a close. Among the many teachers who have given of both time and talents to carry out our educational program are these names: (we regret that the record is incomplete) : Mrs. Lulu Long Walker, Mrs. Verna Wood Thier, R. J. Absher, Lydia Steder Abele, Mrs. Mary Hyde Meeks, O. E. Gibson, Mrs. Hermina Hecker Carson, Mrs. Marie Struber Carnahan, Hilda Bansau, Clara Erbes, Al- evia Price, Mrs. Ethelene Montavon Rogers, Dollee Fauth, Hermione Vincent, Irene Bansau, Vera Helen Fox, Mildred July Olson, Mrs. Ellice Setchell Dinges, Catherine Sampson, Mrs. Marie Barlow Dunphy, Olivetta Bownan, Mrs. Ship- pert Peterson, Mabel Beetz Gleim, Erna Hoffman, Hattie Brown, Winifred Kaepke, Rev. William Z. Dial, Gilbert Lehman, Leo Leathers, Rev. Charles Rhodes, Cecilia Blackburn Payne, Alwilda March Swisher, Clara Stilz, John O. Shaulis, Sr., Clem Thompson, Mr. Klontz. Among those who helped to keep the educational wheels turning are Frank Myers and Francis Seloover, our bus drivers. Mr. Myers has been a familiar figure at the wheel of a schoolbus for more than twenty years. We are indebted to these men for our children's safety throughout the years. Mr. Myers and Elmer Stouffer, Sr. (now of Amboy), will be remembered as faithful custodians of our building. On January 26, 1934, the Sublette Parent-Teachers' Association was formed and has been an active body in the interest of the school ever since. Officers for the current year are: President: Mrs. Dorothy Sanders; Vice-President: William Florschuetz; Secretary: Mrs. Dorothy Ehlbeck; Program Chairman: Mrs. June Billings. 50 The pupils of the Sublette Public School around 1905. The teachers are Clara Stilz and John O. Shaulis. The pupils that can be identified are as follows: left to right, FRO!\T ROll : ?. Karl Leffelman. Esther Hitch, ?. Inez liieber, Ted Wolf, Leror Stephenitch. Raymond Gagstetter, Karl Bettendorf, Clara Schweiger, ?, George Smith. Adolf Lett. MIDDLE ROW: ?, Art liettendorf, ?, Hilda Bansau, ?, Kvehn An gear. Cecil Leffelman, ?, Ruth Kaster. Harold Reis, Howard Reis, ?, Pearl Biddle. BACK ROlt : ?. Alfred White. Fred Bettendorf, Leonore Oberhelman, Irving Kaster. Genieve Koesler. Roy Biddle, Florence Reis, Rosie Smith, ?, ?. Are these correct? Are rtm able to supply the missing names? Congratulations to Sublette on its 100th Birthday A. D. "Don" ORTGIESEN Agency Amboy, III. Phones: Office 188 Home 442 SCHMITZ IMPLEMENT CO. All is Chalmers New Idea G. M. C. Trucks Tryco Sprayers Phone 4141 Mendota SHAFER MOTOR SALES Ford Sales and Service Telephone 40 Amboy, Illinois St. Mary's Catholic School, built by Msgr. Schumacher in 1914. The first two graduates were Hilda Malach Rothwell and Jerald Rapp. It is under the direction of the School Sisters of St. Francis of Milwaukee 51 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SUBLETTE LODGE NO. 349, A. F. & A. M. W. Ralph Long Masonry was introduced to Sub- lette on September 18, 1859, when an article of agreement to form a Masonic Lodge was made by the fol- lowing Master Masons: Thomas S. Angier, James Tourtillott, Prescott Bartlett, Daniel Barton, B. B. Viele, Benj. F. Berkley, H. W. Warren, William Tourtillott, and Jacob D. Tourtillott. The first meeting was held on January 31, I860, in the sec- ond story of Jesse Hale's store, which later, up to 1938, was occupied by A. J. Lauer and Son Hardware and Im- plement. The first officers were: Thomas S. Angier, W. M.; Win. Tourtillott, S. W.; Jacob Tourtillott, J. W.; H. H. Warren, Secy. Pro tern.; Daniel Baird, Treas. Pro tern.; Daniel Barton, S. D.; B. J. Berkley, J. D.; Prescott Bartlett, Tyler Pro tern. Visiting brethren were: R. B. Veile, W. M., of Lee Center Lodge No. 146 and William T. Morgan, Brook- lyn Lodge No. 282. The first petition for membership by initiation was presented that night by Nelson J. Swartwout and Henry C. Chapman. The first initiation fees were $7.00, $3.00, and $5.00 for the first, second, and third degrees re- spectively. The first ballot was spread March 6, I860, for Nelson J. Swart- wout and Henry C. Chapman. The first work of the fellowcraft was con- ferred on Nelson J. Swartwout on April 3, I860. Ten days later he was the first to be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason. On Aug. 28 of the same year a code of by- laws was drafted for the Lodge. A charter was accepted on October 23, 1860. Not being satisfied with their hall, on March 11, 1867, they leased and moved into the second story of the new brick school of District 10. Then on Sept. 10, 1867, they moved back into the Jesse Hale store building. On Mar. 23, 1869, Joseph Hodges, Oliver Wood, and Charles Ingals were ap- pointed a committee to provide for a permanent hall, and shortly later arrangements were made for raising funds to buy a site for a new build- ing. A lot was bought of Jacob B. Barton, and on this a hall was built at a cost of $2500. On August 16, 1870, the Masons held their first meeting in their own new temple. A drug store was the first business to occupy the first floor. In spite of the great debt the Lodge was carrying in paying for their new hall, it re- sponded to the call for help at the time of the Chicago fire, October 24, 1871. Other pleas came from those suffering yellow fever in the South, from many in distress because of floods, cyclones and floods, and later from the widows and orphans of the Cherry mine disaster. All were answered. On Sept. 7, 1879, the Lodge per- mitted the Y. M. C. A. to place its library in the storeroom until they could find suitable quarters. The Masonic Temple is a hallowed spot for a Mason. He visualizes the altar at which he first grasped the principles of craftmanship, the fond association rendered in times of need, the cordial fellowship around a simple board. To him this Temple is not a club; it is a shrine; not a place of entertainment, but a source of inspiration. Friendship does not happen. Under the inspiration of Ma- sonry, which views the human race as one family, each man exchanges views with all others and serves all. Sublette Lodge has never had a large membership. It has never con- sidered conferring degrees as its principal business, but rather the as- sociating together of congenital spirits for social and beneficial pur- poses. About September, 1922, through the cooperation of the wives, sisters, and mothers of the members, an Order of Eastern Star was orga- nized. In 1932 the Sublette Lodge helped to honor the memory of the Father of our Country by contributing to the Masonic Shrine built in honor of George Washington in Washington, D. C, to commemorate his 200th birthday. The oldest member of the Sublette Lodge who was initiated, passed, and raised into this Lodge is Brother B. H. S. Angear, who entered on July 26, 1904. The oldest living member of this Lodge is Ben F. Davis, now residing in Chicago. Those who have served as Master are as follows: 1860-1863: Thomas S. Angier 1864: Wm. D. Tourtillott 1865-1866: Thomas S. Angier 1867: Wm. D. Tourtillott 1868: Benj. F. Berkley 1869: Wm. D. Tourtillott 1870: Oliver A. Wood 1871: Wm. D. Tourtillott 1872: Philip Hoffman 1873: Wm. D. Tourtillott 1874: Thomas S. Angier 1875: Levi Mead 1876: Charles W. Ingals 1877: Harrison R. Morse 1878: Charles H. Ingals 1879-1885: Joseph H. Ayers 1886-1887: Joseph S. Cook 1888-1889: Joseph H. Ayers 1890: Thomas S. Angier 1891-1895: Charles H. Ingals 1896: W. R. Owens 1897-1898: Joseph H. Ayers 1899: Charles H. Kelly 1900: Charles H. Ingals Irving Crawford, father of Mrs. Henry Bansau. holding Ella and Bertha Bansau by the hand, on the porch of his store. This building is note the postoffice, owned by the Masons 52 1901: Edwin T. Leith 1902-1903: William R. Owens 1904: Edwin T. Leith 1905: William R. Owens 1906-1909: B. H. S. Angear 1910: A. F. Jewell 1911: B. H. S. Angear 1912: A. F. Jewell 1913: George N. Paige 1914: A. F. Jewell 1915: George N. Paige 1916-1917: Ed. Wolf 1918-1919: L. H. Paige 1920-1922: Samuel Leffelman 1923: J. W. Payne 1924: J. P. Graham 1925-1926: Roy W. Long 1927: Charles Williams 1928: Arthur Tourtillott 1929: Elmer Stouffer 1930: Cecil Leffelman 1931: W. Ralph Long 1932-1933: Rav Gooch 1934: Charles 'Williams 1935: Cecil Leffelman 1936-1937: Arthur Tourtillott 1938: Cecil Leffelman 1939: Roy L. Leffelman 1940-1942: Fred Roemmich 1943-1946: Norman P. Fauble 1947-1950: Grover C. Roloff 1951: Ralph W. Ultch 1952: Norman P. Fauble 1953-1954: Clarence J. Billings 1955-1957: George J. Henrich, Jr. Officers for 1957: George J. Henrich, Jr.: Worshipful Master Lawrence C. Rapp: Senior Warden Wilfred H. Ehlbeck: Junior Warden Will F. Ultch: Treasurer W. Ralph Long: Secretary Ralph W. Ultch: Chaplain Clarence J. Billings: Senior Deacon Norman P. Fauble: Junior Deacon Elmer G. Stouffer: Senior Steward Charles Williams: Junior Steward Roy G. Long: Marshal George J. Henrich, Sr.: Tyler History of Sublette Chapter No. 895 Order of Eastern Star W. Ralph Long .Sublette Chapter was instituted on December 28, 1922, by Charles H. Soelke, Worthy Grand Patron of Illinois, and Sister Anna Rapp, Grand Representative of Georgia, acting as Secretary; Sister Jean Terry, Past Ma- tron of Alamo Chapter, as Grand Marshal; Brother Hubert Grissell of La Moille as Grand Warder; and Brother Charles Daugherty of La Moille as Grand Sentinel, and Sister Dora Soelke, Grand Representative of Louisiana, as Grand Chaplain. The following officers were in- stalled: Mrs. Lillian Graham, Worthy Matron; Mr. Paul Graham, Worthy Patron; Mrs. Lydia Ultch, Associate Matron; Miss Hilda Bansau, Secretary; Mrs. Laura Letl, Treasurer; Mrs. Ad- die Etzel, Conductress; Mrs. Mary Leffelman, Associate Conductress; Mrs. Augusta Stiltz, Chaplain; Mr. J. G. Etzel, Marshall; Mr. Sam Leffel- man, Organist; Miss Lina Clark, Adah; Miss Mary Clark, Ruth; Mrs. Mary Henrich, Esther; Mrs. Hattie Long, Martha; Miss Ella Bansau, Electa; Mr. Roy G. Long, Warder; Mr. Will F. Ultch, Sentinel. The Worthy Grand Patron asked La Moille Chapter 567 to exemplify the ritualistic work; Miss Ella Bansau Year: 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 Worthy Matrons: Mrs. Lillian Graham Mrs. Lydia Ultch Mrs. Mary Leffelman Miss May Clark Miss Lina Clark Mrs. Rita Leffelman Mrs. Minnie Mossholder Mrs. Erma Williams Mrs. Elizabeth Angier Mrs. Helen E. Long Mrs. Mildred Bailey Mrs. Ruth Kerchner Mrs. Lena Biddle Mrs. Helen E. Long Mrs. Lelia Ultch Mrs. Helen E. Long Mrs. Margaret Bybee Mrs. Helen Clark Mrs. Lela Ultch Mrs. Alma Oester Mrs. Shirley Henrich Mrs. June Billings Miss Dorothy C. Long Present Officers for 1957: Miss Dorothy C. Long: Mr. W. Ralph Long: Mrs. Helen Clark: Mr. Francis Bybee: Mrs. Minnie Mossholder: Mr. George ). Henrich, Jr.: Mrs. Leh Ultch: Mrs. Margaret Bybee: Mrs. June Billings: Mrs. Alma Oester: Mrs. Lola Long: Miss Lina Clarke: Mrs. Evelyn Ostewig: Mrs. Dorothy Ehlbeck: Mrs. Lydia Ultch: Mrs. Tillie July: Mrs. Shirley Henrich: Mr. Paul Mossholder: Mr. Orville July: and Mr. Roy G. Long were initiated in regular form. Following the meet- ing a banquet was served at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Payne. On October 2, 1923, The Grand Chapter granted the Charter and on October 8, 1923, it was presented by Mrs. McCreedy of Earlville. Mrs. Jean Terry was Grand Marshal at the institution and our instructress for a number of years, followed by Mrs. Emma Jackson, Mrs. Florence Hen- nick, Mrs. Vivian Carlon, and Mrs. Carrie Mitchell. Worthy Patrons: Mr. Paul Graham Mr. Roy G. Long Mr. Sam Leffelman Mr. Leslie R. Long Mr. Elmer G. Stouffer Mr. Cecil V. Leffelman Mr. Leslie R. Long Mr. W. Ralph Long Mr. Elmer G. Stouffer Mr. Arthur Tourtillott Mr. W. Ralph Long Mr. Grover C. Roloff Mr. George J. Henrich, Jr. Mr. Clarence J. Billings Mr. W. Ralph Long Worthy Matron Worth) Patron Associate Matron Associate Patron Secretary Treasurer Conductress Associate Conductress Chaplain Marshal Organist Adah Ruth Esther Martha Electa Warder Sentinel Color Bearer. 53 "SALUTATIONS TO SUBLETTE - MAY THE NEXT CENTURY BE EVEN BETTER!" The 1st National Bank in Amboy Member of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Amboy, Illinois Officers L. L. Brink, President C. W. Robbins, Vice President Norman E. Swain, Executive Vice President and Cashie r Elna S. Dominetta, Assistant Cashier Otto Stephenitch, Assistant Cashier Directors L. L. Brink L. S. Griffith Leo Dempsey E. M. Sullivan C. W. Robbins James Marchesi George W. Pankhurst Norman Swain 54 Scourges on Sublette Settlers: Prairie Fires Banditti of the Prairies In the decade between 1840 and 1850, the two most dreaded afflictions of this territory were the sight of a prairie fire and the visit by the bandits of the prairies. From very early records much can be told of both. Some years when the settlers had hardly finished their haying, and before such a thing was expected, a thoughtless person might light a fire that would go racing over the country with the speed of the wind, burning everything in its path. The wagonroads through this country would not stop it. All stacks, build- ings, fences, and so forth, that had not been plowed around or back-fired — as the term was coined to describe this kind of plowing — were soon reduced to ashes. However, it seems that in 1845 one of the worst prairie fires of all times swept through the Sublette settlement. One description of it runs as follows: "After dark my family noticed the light of a fire, so far off that it would not reach until morning. About midnight we were aroused by a noise and looking out the window saw the prairie southwest and west in a blaze of fire. It seemed that the flames were nearly thirty feet in height. We proceeded to arouse all the neighbors that we could and while we were on this mission the wind changed the course of the fire and it swept by without doing any damage to any of the buildings but had burned the entire prairie land lying to the south of our homes." In 1877 Thomas S. Angier still remembered the above event and was able to write descriptively of it for a local newspaper: "Early in October, 1845, the settlers were visited by such a fire. No one had thought it possible that fire should run so early. The wind had blown strong from the southwest all day and did not lull at sundown. After dark my family noticed in the southwest the light of a fire, but thought it so far off that it would not reach them until morning. That night a family of emigrants from Tennessee were camped in their wagon on a small piece of breaking, northwest of my house, their team in the stable. They were all sick except a small girl of about twelve years old. "About midnight my wife was aroused by loud knocking and other noise. Upon getting up she found this girl at the door nearly frightened to death. Her folks thought that judgment day or night had come, and that the world was burn- ing up. Going out of doors she saw the whole country southwest and west in a perfect blaze of fire, some of it as high as twenty feet. My wife started for the nearest home one half mile away and aroused the inmates. This was the first they knew of the fire. She then went a fourth of a mile further and found them sound asleep. They were all thankful to be aroused as they had property of their own exposed that would have been destroyed. Not getting the help wanted, upon re- turning home she saw that the worst danger was past, as the main fire passed a little northwest of the buildings, and the breaking with the plowing around the building broke the force of the fire. It passed on to Chicago. I was in Chicago at the time with a team, and when I left there and came on to the prairie it was all burned over, and I found it so all the way home. I never knew where the fires started, but it must have been a long way to the southwest of the town, and passed through it cornerwise on its way, and spread over the whole country." Concerning the second of the scourges visited upon the early settlers, it will suffice to mention only a few pertinent facts about the Banditti of the Prairies. The settlers here were considerably troubled by this band of thieves and murderers well known throughout Lee and Ogle Counties. They were supposed to have had one of their places of rendezvous about three and a half miles southwest of Sub- lette Village. Besides stealing horses and movable property from the pioneers, they also preyed upon the newly established stores in the Village. Even as late as 1858 they robbed Jesse Hale's store in Sublette. It was quite natural, then, that most of the settlers of Sublette Township should join the new organization, called "An Association for Furthering the Causes of Justice," officially adopted on No- vember 4, 1844. Under this security all settlers enjoyed a great deal of protection against the bandits. Congratulations SUBLETTE on your 1 00th BIRTHDAY LAWTON BROS. DAIRY DIXON, ILLINOIS Compliments of 110 First Street Dixon, Illinois Congratulations BOB'S TAVERN Robert Weber MENDOTA, ILLINOIS Don J. DINGES Signs 'Signs of a better century ahead" Truck Lettering Outdoor Signs Silk Screen Printing Phone 25 SUBLETTE 55 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO O Little Town of Sublette, since the good old days of yore, Is now making history, in which our fathers swore, That they would make a settlement, when they first saw this land, With the help of God Almighty, as He prospered their hand. They had nothing much to work with, except their faith in God, And the yoke of mighty oxen, as they broke the prairie sod. They did not have much money, and there weren't any banks, But they gathered every Sabbath, to offer God their thanks. The first years were the hardest, but they never slacked their toil, As they labored for the harvest, from the rich and fertile soil, Looking ever forward, with faith and hope in God, Building homes faithfully, of wood and stone and sod. Wild fruits were plentiful, wild game was everywhere, Free for the taking, nothing today can compare, With the liberty and freedom, they had those days of yore, That are gone now forever; they shall see it never more. Our fathers who have gone before us, to their blessed rest, Sleeping now in Jesus, upon His Loving Breast, Let all of us remember, and in reverence hold their names, For what they did before us, to conquer these vast plains. Today we have here gathered, to honor our Little Town; Though it is small and humble, it still has some renown. Some of us will remember, a few short years ago, When a dirigible from Germany, flew over us so low In honor of the citizens, who were German born, Descendants of the fathers, from the homeland that was torn, To the land of freedom, beneath the deep blue skies, Where they found land and liberty, before their very eyes. O Little Town of Sublette, you are our very own, Though many of us have scattered, and some no more will roam, Down memory lane we wander, as we travel to and fro, With visions of the folks that were, a hundred years ago. Charles L. Bee Amboy, Illinois Congratulations Sublette Catholic Order of Foresters Court No. 1382 West Brooklyn, 111. PAUL H. MARCH "Helping you to live better" Phone Sublette 22400 Amboy, 111. Enjoy PURITY ICE CREAM At Sublette's Did You Know That? The Graf Zeppelin flew over the W. Ralph Long farm on July 28, 1929, at 3:05 P. M., and a couple minutes later directly over Sublette? 100th Birthday Party 56 Village, Township, and County Chains of Command Incumbent Village Officers: back rows Alderman, V. O. Bonnell; Mayor, Walter F. Erbes; Aldermen, George Vaessen and Harold Bonnell; Village Clerk, Cletus Henkel. Front row. Aldermen. Ernest Sutton. Raymond Dinges and F. J. Morrissey SUBLETTE TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS: 1897-1957 (Elections every two years) 1897-1903: George J. Barth 1903-1907: A. J. Tourtillott 1907-1913: John P. Malach 1913-1922: William Brucker (who resigned on October 17, and Les- lie R. Long was appointed to fill vacancy ) 1922-1925: Leslie R. Long 1925-1931: Edward Wolf (Elections every four years) 1931-1955: Charles J. Kuebel 1955-1959: Wilson Roemmich CENSUS REPORTS: SUBLETTE: 1900 Village: - — — - Township: 1004 PRESENT TOWNSHIP OFFICERS: SUPERVISOR: Wilson Roemmich TOWN CLERK: Rosalie Full TWP. ROAD COMMISSIONER: Alvie Full JUSTICES OF THE PEACE: Floyd Pry and Gerald Leffelman ASSESSOR: Andrew Koehler Did Yon Know That? Original jail or lock-up still stands? It used to have more service, especially after a local dance? 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 287 262 261 282 290 903 858 868 834 763 ROSTER OF COUNTY OFFICIALS — NOW AND THEN: Circuit Clerk: Circuit Judge: County Judge: County Clerk: County Treasurer: State's Attorney: County Sheriff: County Coroner: County Supt. of Schools: County Supt. of Highways Count)' Surveyor: 1957 John O. Shaulis, Jr. Robert L. Bracken Grover W. Gehant Sterling D. Schrock Albert C. Hillison James E. Bales John E. Stouffer Robert F. Preston John A. Torrens Fred W. Leake, Jr. Charles W. Willett 1857 George E. Haskell David Welty Thomas W. Eustace Elias B. Stiles Ozias Wheeler Daniel B. McKenny Simon Wright Able W. Tinkham 57 VILLAGE PRESIDENTS OR MAYORS FROM 1893 to 1957: 1893-1894: A. J. Lauer 1895: J. H. Leffelman 1896: Chas. H. Ingals 1897-1918: Chas. E. Bettendorf 1919: Paul A. Stephenitch 1920-1924: A. J. Lauer 1925-1929: Dr. B. H. S. Angear 1930-1936: R. S. Lauer 1937-1940: Dr. B. H. S. Angear 1941-1946: F. J. Morrissey 1947-1957: Walter F. Erbes i > Sublette Waterworks Compliments of ERNE RAPP BARBER SHOPS Mendota <& Sublette Congratulations on your 100th Birthday DEMPSEYS TAP Schlitz & Old Style Beer Wine Liquor Frank & Vi Dempsey — Amboy "WE WANT TEDDY" Congratulations To The Sublette Centennial BEIER'S BAKERY, INC. "Baked Fine — Since '69" THE NATIONAL ROUGH RIDERS WILLIAM MCKINLEY, for PRESIDENT; THEODORE ROOSEVELT, for Vice President; Early in the fall of 1900 .when the political pot began to bubble, a few of the leading spirits of the southern part of Lee County and the northern part of Bureau County began to get warmed up, and it was proposed that a Rough Riders' Club be organized for the benefit of the young men as well as the older heads. It was thought that a speech from Carpenter Wilcox of Mendota, Illinois, might do the community good so he was engaged to speak and the result of the meeting was that Myron Williams was elected president and Charles Kelley sec- retary, and a Company of Rough Riders was organized, with headquarters on the county line between Lee and Bureau, and near the corners of Sublette, May, La Moille, and Clarion Townships. The troop was known as the National Rough Riders. The women of the community were a wide-awake lot of ladies, and they thought the Rough Riders should have a flag; so they served refreshments at the various meetings held at Rough Riders' Corner and the result was that a flag 6 by 12 feet was procured for the boys and a 60 foot flagpole was raised on a Saturday evening at which meeting Attorney Wingert of Dixon spoke to the people and the pole was dedicated, from which the Stars and Stripes floated until the campaign was over. After a few speeches at Company Headquarters, the Rough Riders got in shape to do a little work in the campaign, and the officers decided that it would have a good effect on the young voters for the troop to make practical marches through the country. Sublette and La Moille were visited on these occasions and quite a number of votes was gained in this way. During the campaign this organization visited and took part in rallies at Amboy, Shaw, Dixon, La Moille, Mendota, and Sublette. They were invited to go to La Salle to act as Governor Tanner's escort, also to take part in receiving Roose- velt, Hanna, Yates, and other prominent speakers. A great many other invitations were received that could not be accepted on account of dates conflicting. The officers of the Rough Riders were well pleased with the conduct of the mflK€RS of Fine ice CReam 58 ! 1EABQUARTERS FOR NATIONAL *OUGH BIDEBS * t± jl * *^^' iZ'!!! ■ "WE GOT boys during the campaign work. The troop became quite proficient in some of the manoeuvers of the cavalry tactics, and great enthusiasm was shown at drills and all campaign work. After the campaign was over a ratification meeting was held at Lieutenant P. C. Dayton's, at which time the troop decided not to disband, but to hold them- selves in shape to be called together for a social time, and to drill occasionally, and be kept in shape for anything that might turn up. The reorganized troop was officered the same as formerly, except that John M. Rapp was made Second Lieut. Not much was done in way of drill during the winter, but they hoped to have reunions occasionally for social intercourse, and the troop hoped to be in shape for service and duty on proper occasions, such as Decoration Day and other like occasions. The Nationals were one of the few organizations that kept their identity following the close of the campaign. TEDDY" Roster: Captain — A. T. Tourtillott 1st Lieut. — P. C. Dayton 2nd Lieut. — Charles Kelley 1st Sergeant — J. M. Rapp Sergeant — Charles Richert Sergeant — T. J. Hodges Sergeant — John Schwingle Sergeant — L. D. Smith Corporal — Swan Benson Corporal — Hayes Hatch Corporal — John Gower Corporal — A. N. Clapp Members: Ambrose Angier Thomas Angier Joseph Auchstetter Edward Ansteth George Booth George Brady John Clapp Martin Clark Richard Crossman Norman Dayton Albert Daehler Perry Eddy William Eddy Fred Erricson Philip Feik Fred Feik Frank Feik Julius Fischer Frank Graves Tracy Graves Harry Gower George Garrett Clifford Hopps Ralph Hopps Lewis Hetzler Harry Hetzler Harry Kennedy La Fayette Long Charles Long Fred Ley Sam Lehman Victor Mercer George Moody Gilbert McKibben Eddie McDonald Wilson Pine Joseph Pine William Pine Thomas Pine Wayne Pine John Richert Clayton Rockwood Richard Stannard John Stockdale John Stephen Everett Smith Owen Sonne Arthur Tourtillott Alfred Tourtillott Ed Weeks John Walker (Theodore Roosevelt. 2(rth President of the United States of America. 1901-1908) PRODUCERS' HYBRIDS CENTENNIAL GREETINGS FROM JONES - BERRY LUMBER COMPANY 1906 1957 Coal and Building Materials Phone 35 Amboy, Illinois Bred in Illinois for Illinois Farmers Wm. J. Florschuetz Dealer Phone 8-8110 Sublette, Illinois 59 ROLL CALL OF SOLDIERS IN CIVIL WAR FROM SUBLETTE TOWNSHIP: 12th Regiment: Company B: John C. Clink 13th Regiment: Company C: William H. Hale, Sergt. Frank A. Wood, Sergt. Albert B. McKune, Corp. George M. Berkley, Corp. Joseph C. Fishell Alfred Hastings Harry W. McKune George P. Wood L. Eells Jackson Richard E. Ash Hugh Carr William Morse 15th Regiment: (reorganized) Company G: Albert Bliss, Jr., Capt. 21st Regiment: Company C: Charles Bach Company E: Jacob Luft Oscar R. Morse Company F: Elizah R. Odell Company I: George N. Scott Henry Wolf 34th Regiment: Samuel I. Tussey, Corp. Morris Johnson, Wagoner John C. Forbes, Private Charles G. Jewett, Private Charles S. Johnson, Private Abram Swartwout, Private Lamburtis W. Marsh, Recruit Nelson F. Swartwout, Recruit 46th Regiment: Company D: William F. Wilbur, Capt. John Trowbridge, Corp. Abel Angier, Private Leander Angier, Private Fillm'n Fenstemaker, Private Harlan D. Forbes, Private Jerome R. Holton, Private Leonard Lovering, Private Henry Lovering, Private Company I: Harlan D. Forbes, as a Veteran Jerome R. Holton, as a Veteran 52nd Regiment: Company B: Matthew Bort Christian Koerner Conrad Schwab Philip Schwab 55 th Regiment: Company I: William A. Lynn Henry Smith 69th Regiment: Company K: William H. Heegaard 72nd Regiment: Company G: John Clink 75th Regiment: Company D: Nelson W. Darrow Company E: Franklin H. Eells, 1st Lieut. James Dexter, 1st Lieut. George A. Houk, 2nd Lieut. Oliver A. Wood, Corp. Charles Stewart, Corp. John Stilz, Corp. William Barton, Private Patrick Comfort, Private John J. Cook, Private Samuel R. Cook, Private Alexander D. Crawford, Private Dennis Carroll, Private August Digner, Private William Dexter, Private Thomas Dupay, Private Jacob Dastart, Private F. Geo. Fessenden, Private Edward Fessenden, Private Elias Fisher, Private Leonard Gradi, Private Charles D. Hubbard, Private William Hannon, Private Joseph J. Hodges, Private George A. Honk, Private Norman Jewett, Private George Kramer, Private David B. Long, Private Alexander Long, Private William B. Lucas, Private John W. McLain, Private Charles McClain, Private Samuel McCall, Private David D. Myers, Private Christopher Maes, Private John Morrill, Jr., Private Norvil F. Montgomery, Private William McLaughlin, Private Edward McKune, Private Thomas Nagle, Private John Noel, Private William P. Packard, Private Myron J. Peterson, Private Edward S. Smith, Private Edward J. Post, Private Joshua Rogers, Private Lewis B. Rex, Private Martin S. Stannard, Private Austin W. Stannard, Private Walter Scott, Private Frederick Schleich, Private Franklin Tracey, Private Andrew J. Taylor, Private Charles E. White, Private Isaac Yokum, Private Samuel J. Yeast, Private Carl Bach, Recruit Albert Hubbard, Recruit Oscar R. Morse, Recruit Charles E. Stannard, Recruit George W. Scott, Recruit Henry Wolf, Recruit Company F: Elisha F. Tourtillott, Corp. D. Brazilla Walker, Corp. Edward Crimmins, Private William Doran, Private Company I: Carl Bach Company K: Seth Baird, unassigned Recruit 89th Regiment: Company I: Jesse Hale, 2nd Lieut. Andrew Bigley, Private Amos S. Horton, Private David E. Powell, Private Charles E. Waite, Private 128th Regiment: Company I: Marcellus Shepherd 134th Regiment: Company D: Joseph S. Stephens Company F: John D. Paddock "We're Tenting Tonight on the Old Camp Ground'' 60 1 lOth Regiment: Company D: Theodore Hamblin Compam 1 Oscar H. Noble, Corp. Julius J. Allen, Corp. Henry Burg, Private Warren J. Fessenden, Private A It red A. Hubbard, Private Laurence Murphy. Private Theodore Neis, Private Albert W. Preston, Pn\ate William N. Riley, Private 153rd Regiment: Company E: George Shater Able Williamson Company K: Fred C. Ferring Thomas F. Tracey 7th Cavalry: Benjamin F. Bartlett, Com- missioned Sergt. Dewitt C. Rexford, Farrier Sergt. Company B: Samuel DuFane, Recruit H. Sidney Hill, Recruit William B. Pratt, Recruit Company C: Edgar A. Bird Fred Boddenhogan Wm. H. Christopher Thomas Clark Chetal Clark Washington Eddy Levi Eddy Augustus Helmestine Elmore W. Hunt Wm. Laycock Andrew Maxwell George C. McKune Andrew J. Phillips James M. Pierce Ellory C. Thornton Lewis F. Grover, Recruit Walter L. Green, Recruit George Myers, Recruit Company F: Daniel L. Pratt, Recruit Wmheld S. Clink, unassigned Recruit Wilfred M. Sturdevant, unas- signed Recruit 8th Cavalry: Peter Schumacher, unassigned Recruit 12th Cavalry: Company M: George M. Williams Arthur Bailey, unassigned Recruit Morris T. Dunn, unassigned Recruit 17th Cavalry: Company M: Arthur D. Bailey, 1st Sergt. 1st Artillery: Battery C: Julius A. Perkins 1st United States Army Corps: Company Five: Abram Swartwout Company Six: Parker L. Cass Michael Keraus Andrew Lind Roster of Deceased War Veterans Buried in Sublette Soil Re quie scant in Pace! EVERGREEN (PETERSON) CEMETERY Biddle, Sergt. A. J., Co. F, 35th Ind. Infantry Bartlett, Capt. Prescott, Co. C, 7th Illinois Cavalry Berkeley, Geo. M., Co. C, 13th Illinois Infantry Berkeley, B. F., Lieut., Co. C, 7th Illinois Cavalry Billings, L., Co. G, 111th Penn. In- fantry Clink, John, Musician, 72nd Illinois Infantry Craig, Daniel, Co. C, 7th Illinois Cavalry Eells, Lieut. Frank, Co. E, 75th Illi- nois Infantry Ewing, D. H., Com. H, 57th Ohio Infantry Holton, ferome R., Co. C, 46th Illinois Infantry Hubbard, G. A., Co. E, 75th Illinois Infantry Hubbard, C D., Co. E, 75th Illinois Infantry Hetherington, A., Co. G, 139th Illinois Infantry In^als, Chas. H. Koch, Edwin O., World War I Letteer, Alva W., Penn., Vol. Infantry Letteer, Theodore J., Penn. Vol. Infantry McNinch, Wm., Co. K, 1st N. J. Mounted Rifles McCune, Harry, Co. C, 13th Illinois Vol. Infantry McCune, Edward, Co. E, 75th Illinois Vol. Infantry McCall, A., Co. C, 7th Illinois Cavalry Minor, Britton, Co. F, 105th Illinois Infantry Newton, Harry, Regiment unknown Rogers, Joshua, Co. E, 75th Illinois Infantry Roloff, Grover C, World War I Stilz, John, Corporal, Co. E, 75th Illinois Infantry Smith, Byron, Regiment unknown Sturdevant, F. W., Regiment unknown Trowbridge, John, Co. D, 46th Illinois Infantry Wood, O. A., Corporal, Co. E, 75th Illinois Infantry ST. MARY'S Becker, Charles, World War I Burkardt, Robert, World War II Langdon, Peter, 3rd N. Y. Light Ar- tillery, Civil War Letl, Adolph Streit, Charles J., Battery E, 338th Field Artillery, World War I West, Mathilda E. K., Army Nurse Buried at Sea or on Foreign Soil Arrigo, John, World War II Rapp, Donald, World War II Young, Adam, World War II McNinch, Lester, World War II Frank, Marvin, World War II STATISTICS of 1872: Acres of wheat 1530; corn - - 6682; other prod- ucts — 2794; number of horses — 549; cattle -- 1216; mules — 9; sheep — 77; hogs - 1355; total assessed value — $214,777. Congratulations W. RALPH LONG 'Men! At Ease!' 61 Compliments of SCHWARZ FUNERAL HOME Mendota, Illinois Willard I. Johnson Established 1885 62 CORRESPONDENCE: 74-D Forest Drive Short Hills Village Springfield, New Jersey April 23, 1957 Dear Reverend Father Anthony J. Becker. I regret the long delay in replying to your note of last November. . . The rirst Barton of our lineage was James Barton, a British soldier who, in fighting "French and Indian War" was killed in Braddock's defeat of July 5, 1755. His son. Lieutenant Wil- liam Barton, fought on the side of the Colonies during the Revolutionary War and was on General Washing- ton^ staff. Following the close of the War, he made his home in Pequan- nock Township. Morris County, New Jersey, a distance of probably 15 or 20 miles from where I currently live. . . One of Lieutenant William Barton's sons, Eleazar Barton, an en- sign in the War of 1812, traveled across the prairies and settled in Knox Grove in the year 1846. One of Elea- zar Barton's sons, Jacob Bostedo Bar- ton, my grandfather, moved from Knox Grove to Sublette. In reviewing a genealogical reporting prepared by my uncle, the late Dr. William E. Barton, which is titled "Lieutenant William Barton of Morris County, New Jersey, and His Descendants," I find interesting accounts, which read in part: 'At Knox Grove we found Stephen at the home of Norm Porter. Mr. Porter had a large house for those days. It had two rooms. The family consisted of Mr. Porter and wife and Whittock and Henry, two sons of uncertain ages. Our family had nine members: James, his wife, and two children, and the men who brought us from Chicago. I do not recall any complaint that there was not room enough for all or of any- one's going back to Ward's Tavern at the corner for lodging. Most of us slept on the floor with blankets under- neath us. Next morning we went on two miles towards Perkins Grove to the Kolper house, which Stephen had rented for one dollar a month. It stood some 30 rods west of where the Kapser or Knox Grove Evangelical Church now stands. It was a log house, perhaps 12 x 16, with no cham- ber, puncheon floor, and one window. West of that was a frame house, about the same size, about 10 feet high. . .' I notice further in the account of the purchase of a few wooden chairs, the first of their kind ever seen by my grandfather. Also a churn and a few other things were purchased in Peru. His father also bought two cows for $25 and James, my grandfather's brother, bought one for $12. He also at that time bought a yoke of oxen, the price o( which is not recorded. I believe it was about the year 1854 that my grandfather, Jacob Bostedo Barton, then approximately 20 years of age, moved to Sublette. After that he studied medicine with Dr. Heath of Haw Paw. His actual practice as a physician was limited, as he soon established himself a drug store in Sublette, though the more stringent laws of later years caused him to register as a local physician. I believe some of the old-timers around Sub- lette, such as Anna Erbes, will still recall my grandfather driving through the countryside with his "medicine wagon", staying all night at the homes of various settlers around West Brook- lyn, Lee Center, Maytown, etc. when he was too far distant to return to Sublette. . . My grandfather's brother, William Newton Barton, served in the Seventh Cavalry and was killed in battle on November 30, 1865. He was originally buried in a little cemetery in Knox Grove. This cemetery, I understand, was later abandoned and his body along with those of other members of the family was moved to a cemetery in Mendota, Illinois. . . It may be of interest to you to know that, as a token of family interest, my father always retained title and paid taxes on one acre of land in Knox Grove. Since my father's death, my brother, Herbert Methven Barton, and myself have retained title and paid taxes on this plot. I can remem- ber once as a small boy that my father, accompanied by myself and other members of the family, was guided to the boundary lines by Peter Dinges, who, I presume, has now been dead for 30 or 35 years. . . On June 8, I860, my grandfather married Helen Methven, daughter of Reverend Wil- liam Methven. They had five chil- dren. . . Sublette residents will re- member my sister, Mary Helen Barton (Mrs. Waylan Johnson) of 493 North Tennessee, Danville, Indiana. They will also remember my brother, Her- bert Methven Barton, who married Doris Green of Amboy, Illinois. My brother died at the age of 44 on Feb- ruary of this year. His family still resides at 2300 Jasmine in Denver, Colorado. My brother, John Barton, died at the age of 8 and was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery across the road from Jim July's. . . In 1950, 104 years after my family had mi- grated from New Jersey, I returned to the state where I live with my wife, Charlotte Loretta Jacoby of Arling- ton, Illinois. Our only daughter. Sharon Ann (Sherry) married Russell Stevenson Britton, Jr., of Haddonfield, New Jersey. . . Most noteworthy mem- bers of our lineage were my uncle, Dr. William E. Barton, who was for 25 years pastor of the First Con gregational Church of Oak Park, Illinois. He was also an author of note, a world traveler and lecturer, and was the leading Lincoln author- ity at the time of his death in Decem- ber, 1930. His son, Bruce Barton, has achieved equal fame as an author and lecturer. . . I hope that some of the information given above will be help- ful to you in preparing for the cen- tennial celebration in Sublette. It is difficult for me to state at the mo- ment whether or not I will be able to be present. Currently, I am scheduled to leave for Mexico for a business trip of several weeks' dura- tion. Other things may develop which will interfere with my being in Sub- lette. Rest assured, however, that, if it is at all possible to be there during that period, both my wife and myself will be present. Cordially yours, W. W. Barton Did You Know That? Three from Sublette served in the Spanish- American War: Major Tour- tillott, Irving Eddy, and John Scott? Eddy died in service and Scott is still living in Casper, Wyoming? In 1937 the Hatch family celebrated the one-hundreth anniversary of the possession of the homestead originally established by their progenitor, Sher- man Lovell Hatch? The Hatches have held this homestead for 120 years? For 15 years Mrs. Bansau got up at 2 A. M. to get breakfast for her Henry and get him started on his meat route? The oldest business building still standing is Mini's Tavern? Compliments of RED & MARGE'S TAP Dial 8338 Mendota, Illinois 63 V Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Lore// Hatch Captain Sherman Hatch was born in Cavendish, Vermont, July 25, 1807, a son of Sherman and Caroline Lovell Hatch. He grew to manhood amid the pleasant scenes of that Vermont town, and joining the state militia, became captain of his company. At the age of 30 he desired to see what the West had to offer. He made his way by - boat through the Great Lakes to Chicago, thence to Milwaukee and from there to Janesville, Wis. He came down the Rock River with seven others, stopping at Rockford, Dixon, and Prophetstown. The party arrived at the mouth of the Rock River, south of Rock Island, where Mr. Hatch remained over night. They went over into Iowa by boat and brought Mr. Hatch back. Next morn- ing he set out on foot all alone to seek a location. He walked back to Prophets- town and proceeded to Dixon's Ferry and then South to Palestine Grove. The Whittaker home was the only house he saw along the way. At Palestine Grove he joined Chas. F. Ingals, his boyhood friend from Vermont. He discovered an abandoned claim and completed the unfinished log cabin that stood upon it. He re- mained until fall when he returned to Vermont to claim his bride whom he took as his wife in the spring of 1838, a Miss Lucy Brown, a schoolteacher. Returning to Palestine Grove, he found his claim occupied. He had recourse to the Squatter's Tribunal and it was decided that he should pay the usurper $150 in view of the improvements made, or receive $125 and give up the premises. He chose to pay the $150 and regained his humble cabin. It was of primitive construction with a floor of earth until he covered it with split rails and on top of these cornstalks. He claimed 240 acres, but could not buy it when it came on the market be- cause of uncollectable money he had loaned. For a time he had to content himself with 80 acres. In 1864 he built a frame house on another section of land southeast of this, and in 1852 erected a commodious brick house and a large barn, the lumber for which came from Chicago, the brick from La Moille, and the stone for the basement wall from Lee Center. Mrs. Hatch organized the first school in the community. The land was barren prairie but highly fertile and pasturage grew wild. Mr. Hatch specialized in the raising of cattle and several times each year made trips to Chicago where a successful market had opened. On these occasions his wife was in almost constant fear of the Indians who roamed the Rock River Valley and often peeked in the lighted windows at night but never disturbed the family. Several Indian trails traversed the Hatch farm and Black Hawk and his forces built camp fires on these trails as they passed through. The brick house built in 1852 still stands in excellent condition and is occupied by his grandson, Charles B. Hatch, who resides on the 400 acre estate. Meeting with extraordinary suc- cess in business, Sherman accrued 560 acres of land and much personal prop- erty. He lived to the age of 95, passing away at Ashton in 1903. His wife pre- ceded him in death in 1876. Sherman's oldest daughter was Mrs. Harriet Gard- ner of Sublette. Sherman was a devout Republican. A hard maple now stands growing among the forest oaks at the cabin site. It was grown from seed brought from Vermont by Mrs. Hatch. The beautiful 64 trees at the homestead were also planted by Mrs. Hatch and now stand as sturdy memorials to the couple who braved tin rigors and dangers of pioneer days. Charles B. Hatch has the four sheep- skin land grants signed by Presidents James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor, giving to his grandfather title to 400 .urcs of land in Palestine Grove West of the Village. Besides Charles B. only two other grandsons are still living: Hayes Lovell Hatch, about ll/ 2 miles South of the homestead, and George Garrett of Amboy. The fourth and fifth genera- tions are also living on the homestead: Mrs. James (Harriet Hatch) Palmer and her two daughters. Amy and Heidi, respectively. PIONEER MOTHERS OF SUB- LETTE: (Recollections) HARRIET L. GARDNER "Work of collecting material of in- terest about those brave pioneer women, who between 1838 and 1846 laid the foundation of our present condition of comfort, culture, and morality, is at- tended with some difficulty, as most of those who took part in the activities of those years have passed into the world beyond. . . Country at the time had not been divided into townships and what is now known as Sublette was then simply the settlement of Palestine Grove while our postoffice was at Inlet Grove until about the last of this period, when a postoffice was established at house of one of our neighbors, Daniel Baird, he being quite scholarly for those times. . . Educated women turned the mill to winnow the grain which was to take its three or four days' journey to Chicago, to be exchanged for a pair of boots for father or a pair of shoes perhaps for mother, some sugar, tea, and coffee, calico sufficient for a dress, a paper of pins, etc., and once, perhaps, within the recollection of the children, mother was so extravagant as to send for a bit of silk and ribbon, with which Mrs. Ingals, our oracle of fashion, was to shape a bonnet. I think, however, that the styles of those days were mostly taken from the latest arrival from the faraway East. . . The bride passed her honeymoon on a floor of mother earth, with a blanket hung at the door- way to keep out the night wind, and a homemade table with some other crude pieces of furniture were placed against it to keep out the wild beasts, and the ax and pitchfork stood beside the bed of the lonely woman at night as a defense weapon against man and beast, when her husband was away. Then there were all of those farm chores to be attended to during all of those six, seven, eight and sometimes nine or ten days' trip to Chicago. . . Many a little toddler in the pioneer cabin wandered about neglected and forlorn all day, while mother lay in bed sick with a terrible chill and the fever, which always followed it, and at last sinking into a tired sleep at night, then waking in the darkness oi the early morning to find her babies, who had crawled supperless to bed, on either side of her. . . We have never heard that mothers in those days had occasion to fight with wild beasts, but many a tale we have listened to of righting with an equally unconquerable foe — a prairie fire — which in spite of every effort would sometimes devour every kind of grain, every spear or hay and the outbuildings, leaving a hungry herd of cattle with no visible means of support. . If Mrs. Baird wanted to make her little girl a dress and wished for Mrs. Hatch's pattern, she must put her babies in the wheelbarrow and wheel them a mile across the prairie, and if Mrs. Hatch wanted Mrs. Baird's recipe for pickles, as she had no wheel- barrow she would take her little ones as far as thev were able to walk or she was able to carry them, then leave them by the fence corner, charging them not to stir from that spot, and to be very good children, and at last telling that she would stay but a few minutes. . . Our houses were similar, usually the typical pioneer home of logs, varied slightly in design. Perhaps a corner for a pantry would be partitioned with rough boards, and from the corner of that to the opposite wall would be drawn a curtain of some bright fur- niture calico forming a commodious al- cove for the bed and the old-time necessity for the children — the trundle- bed. One family had besides the living room, a sort of lean-to, which was used for a bedroom, and it had a bonafide door of wood, instead of a curtain, and that bedroom was the envy of all the little folks of the community. It seemed the height of grandness to them. . . In the year 1843 a schoolhouse of logs was erected on the south side of Palestine Grove, where for some years religious services were held and attend- ing those services might be seen Mrs. Jonathan Peterson with her little daughters, the Mortons, the Rodgers, the Ingals, the Hatches, the Goodalls, the Bairds, the Hubbards, the McKunes, the Fessendens. . . There were but few persons here then approaching that much dreaded era in life after which we are called elderly. The parents of the Peterson family, Mrs. Eells, their aunt, and Mr. and Mrs. Ephraim Reniff, the mother and stepfather of Mrs. Baird, were, I think, the only ones whose journey of life was in the de- cline. . . Of those who ministered to our spiritual wants the first, I believe, was Elder Headley, who resided in or near Ottawa. He, I have no doubt, was instrumental in organizing the Baptist Church, which has been spiritually the alma mater of most of those who have drifted out on the sea of life from Sublette. . . As we, surrounded by modern conveniences and living in comparative ease and luxury turn to the picture of our mother's early life, as she crawled to a spring a quarter of a mile away for water to slake her feverish thirst, wondering the while whether she would live to get back to her little- ones, we see nothing but sadness and gloom, yet there were bright spots in their lives. . . The old folks talk of those good old times' when hospital- ity abounded, and everyone was a neighbor, although miles away. They frequently exchanged friendly inter- course and partook of a mince pie made with slightly cooked potatoes, soaked in vinegar, which took the part of the missing apples, and the wild plums preserved in molasses, or the wild crab apples boiled, the core taken out and served with sugar and cream. Then there were the cookies, with caraway seeds in them, too. We have no doubt the ladies then invited in neighbors and enjoyed the social gathering around a quilt on the visit to the lady of the house, while the husbands assisted their neighbor to erect a barn or a stack of hay, quite as well as the ladies of ffSKgfr A SUCCESSFUL FEEDERS USE FASCO FINER FEEDS FASCO MILLS Welland (P. O. Mendota) Dial 3757 Mendota Free weekly delivery service Mendota Area Compton Area Ladenburger Fasco Service Archer Fasco Service Dial 2-5024 Mendota Dial 2671 Compton 65 our time enjoy the elaborate luncheon, or the five o'clock tea. . . There were. no doubt, many interesting incidents in those days which would be well worth recording here but they have passed beyond die ken of mortals with those cherished mothers who were then only taking those burdens of life which grew heavier as the responsibility of a family to educate became more appar- ent, while the facilities for doing it scarcely kept pace with the physical development of the children. . . The mother ot those days was nuked a Spartan mother, and her children rise up and call her blessed." CHARLOTTE B. FIELD Born Feb. 27, 1811, in West Brook- field, Mass.; Dec. 20, 1832, married Daniel Baird of Westborough, Mass. Came West in 1836 and settled in Rockwell, La Salle County. In 1839 moved to Lee County and settled on a farm near Palestine Grove, three miles from present Village. First postoffice at their home, called Brookfield, after Mrs. Baird's birthplace. He died Mar. 26,1866, and she, Mar. 18, 1890; both lie at rest on old homestead. MRS. HEZEKIAH McKUNE "My husband, Hezekiah McKune, with myself and four children, left our native home in Susquehanna, Pennsyl- vania, June 10, 1845. We came to Binghampton, New York, from where we took passage on a canal boat for Utica, then to Buffalo, from there by steamer to Chicago, where we were met by a man by the name of Peterson from Palestine Grove, our place of destina- tion in this country. Mr. Peterson had two yoke of oxen and a wagon. We had four wagons, and purchased a pair of oxen, and after four days' travel we reached our home, which we had traded for. It was a log house with lean-to and attic, which we reached by climbing on pegs driven into the wall. We could count stars through the roof, sometimes as many as twenty at a time. On our trip I sometimes got tired of riding, and would walk until a rattlesnake would buzz across my path, then I would take my place in the wagon again. I saw one rattlesnake crawl through the floor of our house; it was a small one and I killed the intruder. We had the usual amount of sickness and privation incident to a new country. Three times we took families in to live with us, of from three to six in number, who stayed as many months apiece. We entertained ministers, travelers, and tramps, and as we were on the road from Dixon to Peru it was a convenient stopping place. I recollect several of those early set- tlers who used to call at our house. Among the most noteworthy were Dr. Gardner and Rev. De Wolf, as they were hauling onions and other produce to Peru. We had no great trouble with wolves, although when Mr. McKune was returning one evening from help- ing a neighbor butcher, they came so close to him he could hear them breathe and snap, but he hung on to the liver he was carrying, and reached home safely with no further trouble." HARRIET CARNAHAN McELYSA (daughter of S. W. Carnahan, who came in 1848 from Penn. and settled in Melugin's Grov< ) "During the summer season the grass covered the prairies from three to four feet in height, and during my first term of school taught at Knox Grove, it was no uncommon thing to have from ten to twelve rattlesnakes cross my path while going from my boarding place to the schoolhouse. As this was during the days when teachers 'boarded around' the distance of course cannot be definitely stated." MRS. HARRIET L. GARDNER Daughter of Sherman L. Hatch and widow of Dr. Francis B. Gardner. Born on the homestead in Dec. 1839. Went to school at Lee Center Academy, then to Janesville, Wis., and completed education at a private school in West Chester County, New York. Taught a few terms and married Dr. Gardner in 1861, the same year he settled in Sublette. In November, 1880, he had an untimely death when he was tossed on his head by an angered bull. F. HINRICHS IMP. CO Amboy, III. Phone 291 HARVESTORE SILOS NEW IDEA and NEW HOLLAND Farm Equipment JOHN DEERE Quality Equipment 66 LINDQUIST CONSTRUCTION COMPANY Established 1906 George W. Lindquist — E. S. Lindquist Andrew G. Lindquist founder 206 Brinton Avenue Telephone 3-8541 Dixon, Illinois "Our Best Wishes to Sublette" Compliments of MIDWEST RUG MILLS, Inc. Amboy Illinois I A. J. "Andy" Lauer For several decades he had been identified with the plumbing and im- plement business of Sublette. Lee County numbered him among its na- tive sons, since he was born in Sublette Township in 1857. His parents, An- drew and Katherine (Strubel) Lauer, are buried in Sublette, the father hav- ing died in 1898 and the mother in 1876. A. J. Lauer attended school in the Village until he was twelve years old when he began to assist his father in the operation of the home farm for eleven years. Farmed for himself until 1893, when he opened a plumbing and implement business. Was widely rec- ognized as a prosperous, enterprising, and representative citizen of this com- munity. October 30, 1883, he was mar- ried to Katherine Hildmann, and had one child Amor, who assisted his father for many years in the hardware busi- ness. Andy Lauer was a democrat in politics and served as county assessor for about fifteen years, making for him- self a highly creditable record. He was a devout member of the Catholic Church, always regarded as a man of exemplary habits, strict integrity, and strong personality. He was well known in Lee County and enjoyed the high esteem of all who had either business or social relations with him. On Aug. 31, 1951, he passed away. GEORGE LAUER Sublette merchant, born here Nov. 19, 1852, brother of Andrew Lauer. Father was a native of Wurzburg, Ba- varia, and mother of Bingen, in Hesse- Darmstadt. In 1848 parents came to America and took up farming pur- chasing 300 acres of land. In 1880 George entered into partnership with Joseph Bcttendorf in general merchan- dise, but one year later joined partner- ship with his brother Andrew and this lasted for five years, when George be- came sole proprietor. June 7, 1881, he married Mary T. Malach and had seven children: George A., Erma M., Leo L., John, Alphonse, Romana, and Otto. PAUL RE IS He was a representative of a well- known pioneer family of Lee County, for most of his life engaged in general farming and stock-raising on 120 acres of fine land in section 11. Was a na- tive son, born in 1857, his parents being Martin and Katherine (Theiss) Reis, the former dying in 1894 and the latter in 1897. Both lie at rest in the Perkins Grove Cemetery. Martin Reis was one of the settlers of the Township. Paul Reis got his education in the public school of his neighbor- hood. At 14 he laid aside his books and for 13 years worked for his father on the farm, until he came into posses- sion of his own homestead of 120 acres. In 1884 he married Kate Kliyla, both of whom are now buried in West Brooklyn. Romer P. Reis is their only child. Paul Reis was a democrat and a Catholic; his life was always lived in conformity with his principles. He left behind him a record that is respected to this day. WARREN CLARKE Born in Medfield, Mass., Feb. 22, 1825. Came West to Mendota in 1854, where he worked five years on the foundry. Moved to Village of Sublette in 1877, where he was a carpenter. In 1876 he married his second wife, the first having died three years before; two children, Mary and Lina Stearns. 67 The Standad Oil Company, a youngster of sixty-eight years, congratulates the village of Sublette on its 100th Anniversary. As Sublette has progressed, the Standard Oil Com- pany has kept pace. Today, we serve this area with modern equipment, fine quality products and dependable delivery. YOU EXPECT MORE FROM STANDARD AND YOU GET IT] Since 1922 — Standard Oil Bulk Plant in Sublette STANDARD OIL COMPANY L. J. Vaessen, Agent Phone 29, Sublette CHARLES HUBBARD Sublette painter, born here on May 4, 1846, youngest son of Royal Prescott Hubbard, whose four sons went to War with orders "to pitch in and clean them up" since the father had seen the horrors of slavery in the South. Charles was mustered out of the service June 12, 1865, without a wound and having won for himself a reputation of a splendid soldier, especially noted tor his intrepidity and love of foraging. CHRISTIAN BI ESTER Sublette farmer, born in Hanover County, Germany, Dec. 1831. Came to America in 1855 and then to this area. Was the uncle of Mrs. H. Bansau. FREDERICK OBERHELMAN Sublette grain-buyer, born in War- ren County, Missouri, in 1844. 1866 married Mary E. Betz, daughter of John Betz, an early settler in Sublette. 1871 went into business of buying grain and shipping in Village. 1874 built an elevator, which with his en- gine cost him $5,000. Also dealt in coal and lumber and livestock. His busi- ness was prosperous, having paid out as much as $100,000 in one year. He and his wife were faithful members of the Lutheran Church. In 1905 he re- tired. THOMAS ANGIER Sublette farmer and magistrate, dubbed the "Squire." Born in 1822 in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. In 1840 family came West with wife and one child, to La Moille, then to Sublette the following spring. 1874 Thomas moved to Village. Already in 1851 he was elected justice of peace. For 18 years he served as supervisor of the Township. Often he was styled "the oracle of Sublette." PHILIP FAUBLE Sublette farmer, born in Lee County in April, 1851. His father, John, was an early settler in Sublette and acquired large property. In October, 1877, Philip married Barbara Pope of Bureau Coun- ty. Owned a 200-acre farm known as William Tourtillott farm. PETER DINGES Sublette farmer, born in Oberhech- stadt, Heese-Nassau, Germany, in 1844. Stayed under parental roof until he was 27. On April 20, 1876, married Christina Schaub, and had eight chil- dren. Owned 800 acres of land at time of his death. HENRY HOFFMAN Sublette farmer, born in Germany, Dec. 23, 1825. Came to America in 1845, arriving near Perkins Grove and settled in this area soon after. PHILIP ERBES Sublette farmer and feeder of pedi- greed stock. Born in Bureau County, October 5, 1862. Owned 167 acres of land on the south line of Lee County known as the "Pine Creek Farm," where he was engaged in breeding Scotch and Shorthorn cattle, Poland- China hogs, Oxford-down sheep and Golden Wyandotte chickens. ANTON H. LAUER Sublette banker and merchant, a brother of George. 1892 joined with his brother Andrew in hardware and agricultural implement business. In 1900 he became cashier of the Sub- lette Exchange Bank. MICHAEL LAUER Sublette farmer. Born in Retzstadt. Bavaria, Germany, Feb. 16, 1879- Came to America in 1881, and settled near Sublette in 1897. At one time he rented land near Paw Paw. EDWARD M. LEWIS Sublette wagon-maker and black- smith. Born in Broom County, Mass., Dec, 1844. Came with parents to Lee County in 1845, first to Nachusa, then in 1853 to Amboy. Married Sarah Tate in 1851. 1869 he moved to Sublette. ALPHEUS CRAWFORD Born on Dec. 28, 1798, in Lucerne County (now Bradford), Penn. In 1844 Alpheus came West with a fami- ly of six children, and settled at Knox Grove. Bought 40 acres for $75.00 from Widow Pratt. There was a log house on the place and about 7 acres were broken. 68 ALPHEUS H. CLINK Sublette farmer, born in Penn.i., 1829 Came to Lee County in 1842. He engaged in teaming to Chicago tor Geo I Haskell, storekeeper at Inlet. In 1848 the family came to Sublette. In L852 Alpheus built .1 frame house on the south "eighty" of the home- stead. Married in 1850 to Julia A. C anfleld, who died in Dec., L85 t. His second wife, Melissa M. Robinson, gavt him five children. JOH\ V TRUCKENBROD Sublette tanner, born in Bureau County, Nov. 10, 1862, son of John and Elizabeth Faber Truckenbrod. For some tunc John took care of the homestead. On Dee. 20, 1893, he married Emma M. Hartan. and to them six children were born: Carl J.. Fritz, Greta, Bertha, Norval, and Ralph. AMBROSE S. ASGIER Sublette farmer, born on Jan. 3, 1843. in house in which he resided most of his life, the son of Thomas and Fannie (Morse) Angier. In all probability at the time of his death he was the oldest person born in Lee County who had always resided within its boundaries. Did you know that? U. S. Route 52 was built through Sublette in the year 1924? fOEL COOK Born in Otsego County, New York, in 1828; reared a farmer. 1845 came West, learned the carpenter and shoe- maker trades in Lee County. Passed the first winter in Lee County in 1845 with Daniel Tripp at Inlet Creek. Went overland to Far West in 1850; was in California and Oregon for four years. Returned and married Emily Strickland of Penn. in fall of 1855. Bought 80 acres of land from his brother John for $1700 and began farming in SE quarter sec. 8. Built a house 16 X 24. Also bought 110 acres in Sees. 5 and 9, at $4000. 1875 built a house at $1800. Father of Joel Cook was Daniel, born in New York in 1802. Daniel was an old-time democrat but voted for Abe Lincoln, and ever after voted the Re- publican ticket. He well remembered seeing the soldiers of the War of 1812, in which was one of his cousins. Joel ( (iok is Glenn Purdy's grandfather. CHARLOTTE (FIELD) BAIRD Born in 1811 in Worchester County, Mass., married to Daniel Baird in 1832. In 1839 the family came to Lee County, and settled on the old mail route from Peru to Grand Detour in Sublette Township. Here was the first postorTice, called Brookfield, and after- wards Hanno. Daniel Baird was first supervisor of the Township, and first town meeting was held at his home. He died in March, 1866, and left a family: Marianne (Mrs. Henry Chap- man) and Caroline (Mrs. Newton Pumphrey), and Seth F. Did You Know That? In the fall of 1946 a panther was supposed to have been on the loose West of the Village? Bill Welcomes You To Sublette Centennial Fish on Friday Chicken on Saturday BILLS TAVERN Sublette The Place to Come to Have Some Fun. CONGRATULATIONS TO all our good friends and neighbors in Sublette on their community's 100th birthday. BEST WISHES for continued success in the next century. R. W. RUCKMAN INSURANCE AGENCY R. W. Ruckman Frank E. Duffy Blanche Gascoigne Insurance — Real Estate — Farm Loans Amboy Phone 6 Illinois 69 George and Jeanette Stannartl nith daughters. Myrtie and Alta. in front of home. Mr. Stannard operated a harness shop across the alley. Since he was a cripple, he had to he assisted by his wife to his place of work NEWTON STANNARD Sublette farmer, born in Madison County, New York, Nov. 1819. Family came West to Perkins Grove around 1841. Married Emily Reniff in Nov. 1844; 1847 bought land from John Dement. Hauled lumber from Chicago and built a house, one of best in vi- cinity. Did You Know That? Did You Know That? The Kuebd Brothen , Hog Hatchery At one time the Village bank was was the first in the State, and for a one of two in Northern Illinois with long time the only one in Northern bullet-proof glass? Illinois? Do you remember? The day when Mrs. Dancey (Millie Stannard) and her sister were kid- napped by the gypsies and their mother found them in the gypsy wagon as they were ready to leave town? CHRISTIAN BRUCKER The Gilbert Bruckcr farm south of Sublette just off Route 52 has been in the family for almost a century. Chris- tian Bruckcr, the great-great-grand- father of the Florschuetz children, who now reside on the farm, was the first owner, having settled there about I860. In 1849 he had gone West in pursuit of gold and returned with a few pieces. With part of this he made a ring, which he lost on a farm in New York when he went there to marry his fiancee around I860. Some time later a hired man on this farm came in from plowing and noticed something shiny on the tip of his plow. It was the ring. His New York relatives wrote and told Mr. Brucker then at Sublette that if he wanted the ring, he would have to come out and get it. He did, with the result that this and the pieces of gold are still in the possession of the family. Christian had eleven children, all of whom lived in the five-room house on the homestead. The home still stands today but has undergone extensive remodelling. This farm was later owned by William Brucker, who resid- ed there with his family until 1922. Afterwards Gilbert Brucker lived there until 1948. And since that time the William Florschuetz family has been there. His wife is the former Lucille Brucker. Happy 100th Birthday to Sublette, our Neighbor to the North. BLACK BROTHERS CO. INC. Manufacturers of Plywood Machinery Mendota, Illinois 70 Congratulations to Sublette Community and Citizens on your 100th Birthday ROLLER-MOR Skating Rink Compton, Illinois JONATHAN PETERSON Sublette farmer, born at Truxton, Courtland County, New York in 1812. Came West in 1832 via the Erie Canal, Lake Erie, and across Michigan afoot to Chicago, then to Ottawa. In spring of 1837 he came to Lee County and settled in Lee Center Township. Mar- ried in fall of 1837 and had five chil- dren: Frances Augusta (Mrs. E. A. Gastman); Alice M. (Mrs. W. F. Hoyt); Emeline W. (Mrs. A. J. Bid- die); Myron J. Jonathan served in 75th 111. Vol. until end of Civil War. He was in engagements at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and went with General Sherman on march to Atlanta, and then back with General Thomas to Ten- nessee. WILLIAM DEXTER Sublette farmer, born in Canada, Dec. 31, 1831, son of Elisha and Mary (Kane) Dexter and second in a family of eight. 1838 came to Illinois with his family. Arriving in Lee County in November, he stayed for a short time a mile east of Binghampton, then moved to May Township, where after a while he bought a claim from his uncle, John Dexter, who had come to the County in 1835. William married Martha Coleman in 1852, and in 1858 he bought land from Lewis Clapp in this Township. TT£ MILLS. !4y Proprietor of the Sublette Mills was James Dexter, a brother of William. Both were sons of Elisha Dexter, a brother of John, one of the very early settlers around here 71 Congratulations to Sublette On 100 years of progress H. D. HUME COMPANY Mendota, Illinois Manufacturers of Specialized Farm Equipment PRESCOTT BARTLETT Sublette farmer, born in Conway, Mass., Aug. 19, 1821. Came West in 1844, having passed through Arkansas and Texas in 1855, became convinced war was imminent. Studied cavalry tac- tics in winter of I860; following spring he raised a cavalry company. In 1861 he enlisted, and was sworn in, receiv- ing a captain's commission in Co. D, 7th. 111. Cav. Company numbered about 98, about 25 of them from Sublette with the rest from Mendota, Amboy, and Lee Center. Captain Bartlett was for six weeks president of a military commission at Memphis. Served as personal escort of Generals Ulysses Grant and John M. Palmer. He was a stirring and industrious man, having seen much of the world. Was widely traveled in the purchase and sale of horses, having gone to Boston and Providence several times. In an early day he was elected constable and was a deputy under Sheriff Campbell at the time of the famous "Banditti of the Prairies" prosecutions. JOHN WILLIAM "BILL' OBERHELMAN Sublette dealer in lumber, grain, and coal. Born in Warren County, Missouri, Oct. 30, 1853. At the age of 23 he came to Sublette, where he worked for his brother Fred in the store. June 14, 1883, he married Augusta D. Bansau, daughter of Henry and Louise (Miller) Bansau, and sister of Henry Bansau, Jr. then of the Village. Henry, Sr., was a native of Schleswig-Holstein and his wife from Hanover, Germany. Bill Oberhelman had rive children. He was the first village clerk of Sublette and recorded the ordinances when the vil- lage was organized in Feb., 1893. Scene of Captain Bartlett's reunion at the Bartlett homestead* now owned by Watson Bartlett and operated by the Donald and Robert Ayers families. Take note of Eugene Bartlett's position in the window aboi'e center. Such re- unions were common events in the "old dars" 72 This farm was purchased by J. Peter Ultch of Clarion Township in 1880. His S(m. Edward C. Ultch, married Charlotte Fassig of Brooklyn Township, on February 19, 1882. and moved on it as a tenant until 1890 when he purchased it from the estate. When Edward C. died in 1929, Wm. F. Ultch, his son. bought it from the heirs in 1930 and farmed it for 20 more years. Then his son Ralph W. took over and is farming it now. This makes four generations which have owned and lived on this farm. Those in the picture are: Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. I Itch, daughters Alma and Emma, son t) illiam. and hired man John Rotenhafer EDWARD C. ULTCH Sublette farmer, born May 6, 1857, son of John P. and Elizabeth (Wendel) Ultch. In 1847 John came to America and located in Bureau County where he became owner of 3200 acres of land. In 1850 he married Elizabeth Wendel and had six children. 1882 Edward moved to Lee County, where he purchased 280 acre farm near the Village. In Feb. 19, 1882, he took a second wife, his first having passed away, Charlotte Fassig, and by her had four children. Did Yon Know That? There was a day when Sublette had the ideal place to obtain any kind of footwear: Bansau was the bootmaker; Bieber, the slippermaker; Fluer, the shoemaker? At one time Bureau Creek was an ideal place for swimming and fishing? A covered railroad bridge ran over the creek? From it the boys, the Wilders and others, dived into fifteen feet of water? Four generations of the Lovering family served our country: William Lucas in the Civil War; Elizah Lover- ing in the State Militia; Roy F. Lover- ing in World War I; Francis J. Lover- ing in World War II? The postoffice building is owned by the Orders of the Masons and of the Eastern Star? Their lodge meetings are conducted upstairs; it is a very active group of members? Beit WiiLi S^ubtette L^entenniat on your CITIES SERVICE OIL COMPANY Fuel Oils • Motor Oils Greases • Gasoline Clarence "Bud" Dinges Dial 5016 or 8313 Mendota, III. Tony's Arlington Tap Congratulations to Sublette on the Occasion of : its Centennial Soft Drinks Wines Package Goods Beer Liquors Phone 457 — Amboy Anton J. Bernotas, Proprietor 73 Former Bansau Home — novo the office of the Farmers' Telephone Com- pany Jake BleVs Saloon, now Shinny's Tavern. In picture are found: Henry Bansau. Geo. Barth, John Blei. Jacob Blei. IF m. W'ilkey, and Edmund Blei Sublette Waterworks about 1902. G. M. Reis, seated, superintendent of tvaterworks, and Max Letl, engineer 14 WILLIAM If. IRELASD Born in western Virginia, in 1826. ( ame to Sublette in 1830 and bought of Stiles and Eustace for $130 a war- rant for part of Sec. 23. Married to Sarah Vertrees in fall of 1856, who taught school in the early days at Knox Grove, named by her mother's people, who were early settlers. Her lathers father was in War of L812. Her moth- er's grandfather (Brooks) was all through the Revolution. John Knox, her uncle, when about fifty years old went with three sons and a son-in-law from Lee County, Mo., to serve in the Federal Armv. JAMES STEARNS Came to Sublette in winter of 1855. First year here he lived with some rela- tives, the Bentons, who lived on the Reuben Dinges farm. Then for $2.25 or S2.50 an acre he bought land across the road from the Frank Oester farm and built there. This is the home where Miss Linda Clarke, his granddaughter, lived until selling several years ago and moving to Amboy. In spring of 1855 Mrs. Stearns and two children arrived. Since by this time the Rail- road had come to Sublette, they had their packing box shipped to "Hanno." Having arrived in Sublette by train, they walked to the Benton home. In her reminiscences Miss Clarke tells how her mother remembered walking past the first place west of Sublette where the house was being shingled. This house still stands. It was the place used by the Baptists for church services until their village church was put up. Miss Clarke's father was Warren, who lived in Mendota until he was married. Then he came to Sublette where he was a carpenter. He built among other things the Armory Hall in 1879, later the famous Octagon House in Mendota as well as the old Blackstone School. _ The Auchstetter Garage Dorsey Scott and son, John, pictured in front of Mr. Scott's blacksmith shop in 1914. This was the first, and, for many years, the only blacksmith shop around. It was located on the county line, on the land now owned by John C.lapp, a grand- son. John was injured in the Spanish-American War, and was brought home on a stretcher. He now lives in Casper, W yoming. Mrs. Scott, known as "Aunt Louisa,''' teas the midwife for this section covering miles around. The Scotts' daughter, Mrs. Emma Davton, still lives in La Moille Congratulations on your 100th Birthday FIRST STATE BANK Mendota, Illinois Phone 2211 Capital $100,000 Surplus $100,000 Undivided Profits over $200,000 Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 75 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas (Hannah Douglas) Tourtillott THOMAS TOURTILLOTT (Great-grandfather of Mrs. Paul Mossholder) In 1839 Thomas Tourtillott came to this area, being the first to leave the Perkins Grove settlement and build a house on the prairie. During the Civil War his home served as a station on the Underground Railway, as did like- wise that of Stephen Richardson, a neighbor. Besides children Jacob, Elisha, Levi, and Olive, Thomas had three sons, James, William, and John. Each of these three settled and built up farms adjoining their father. They are now operated by Paul Mossholder, Floyd Owens, and Norman Fauble. James and William sold their farms and went West. John kept his and it has for 104 years stayed in the family; it is now run by Paul Mossholder. John, however, did go West between 1869-1871; it took 7 days to go by rail to California at that time. At every station the Indians would get on the train and beg from the white men. John Tourtillott married Mary Dex- ter. Their family included Major Tour- tillott and his sister, Ella, who married Herbert Eddy, still living in Hillside, New Jersey. She was 95 this July 1. Major Tourtillott joined the National Guards in 1878, then organized in Sub- lette, and belonged to it for 38 years. He went through all the ranks: Cap- tain for 10 years, Major for 17, and then retired with the rank of Lieut. Col. He was sheriff of Lee County from 1906-1910, spent 4 terms as State Rep- resentative, and also served as Dixon Chief of Police later. When World War I came, he tried to get back into the service but was not accepted because of his being 60 years old. He then turned his interest to civic projects, helping to organize the Farm Loan As- sociation and the Production Credit As- sociation, serving as first president of each. Over the former he presided 25 years. In 1912 he was a delegate to the Republican Convention and served as Assistant Sergeant at Arms. ALBERT T. TOURTILLOTT Captain Albert T. Tourtillott (later Major), who had gone to the front at the head of Company K, Sixth 111., Vol., U. S. Infantry, comes of good fighting stock. His great-grandfather, Captain Abram Tourtillott, was a captain in the Revolutionary War, as aid-de-camp to General Washington, and was on duty at the execution of Major Andre. His grandfather was a lieutenant in the War of 1812. James Tourtillott, his uncle, was 1st Lieut, in the 75th Regiment, 111. Vol. Infantry during the Civil War, and another uncle, Elisha Tourtillott, was a private in the same regiment and was severely wounded at Murphysboro, being disabled for life. He is related on the mother's side to the Dexters, also with good records as fighters. William and James Dexter served through the Civil War in the 75th, and Simon Dexter was a lieuten- ant in Company D of the 34th. We all have heard of Uncle John Dexter. He was upward of 60 years old when the war broke out, but the first call for volunteers seemed to renew his youth, and at the second call he colored his whiskers, which were rather gray, re- juvenated lus exterior, and volunteered. He succeeded in deceiving the muster- ing officer, was accepted and mustered m. He was in the Battle of Shilo, and said that lie fired i() rounds, taking good aim and making a rebel bite the dust about every other shot. Captain Albert T. Tourtillott is a gentleman of unassuming disposition, but with true dignity of character, with soldierly bearing, and holding the respect and esteem of his men. He will make a good record for himself and family, his native town of Sublette, and Com- pany K will never have reason to re- gret their choice of commander made many, many years ago. We shall watch the career of the Sixth Regiment with interest. (The Am boy ] our nal, summer of 1898) Capt. Albert T. Tourtillott Tourtillotts in Armed Service: WAR OF 1812: Lieut. Thomas Tour- tillott. CIVIL WAR: 3 sons of Thomas Tour- tillott, Elisha, Levi, and James. SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR: Major Albert T. Tourtillott. WORLD WAR I: Frank, son of Ma- jor Tourtillott, served in Infantry in France with Headquarters Com- pany in Communications. WORLD WAR II: Albert, Franks son, was in Navy and on battleship Maryland in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. Herbert, Frank's son, was in Coast Guard. John, Arthur's son, was in Air Corps. 76 J. li. Althaus and his prize steer, Jumbo, reputed as the world's largest hereford steer, weighing over 3000 pounds ui tlie latest calculation — and still eating. Has attracted visitors from most parts of V. S. .4. Leonard tu lationi on uour 100th ^Arnniuerdaru i^eleora tlon your INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER DEALERS w. G. LEFFELMAN AND SONS Phone 54 Amboy, Illinois 77 ^- ■5B p* »^2Ss>.. iv%*- ( Pi \ • ■ — . * L «. -:™__^ja - ^'Ik. - ' B « ■ V^' ^fe^Z. JJ^to^H* - '«_ • • * ... f --- -;;./; , : :• ..: l~ ■ *si Raili mill bridge washout north of Sublette, August 13, 1911 .4 roaring '20's event — Ruth Easter, Laura Letl, Gib Easter, Paul Letl, and Frank Letl, Jr., going on a picnic to White Rock near Grand Detour Charter members of and still active on the Sublette Fire Department: Leroy Lovering, Geo. Vaessen, L. P. Burkardt, Leonard Vaessen, and Walter F. Erbes. Note the blend from the old to the neic — from the old and original hose and cart to the neiv and present truck of the Village Fire Department 78 ^Tutoarapni and V II U >arap emoA: Kate Koehler. Kate Bulfer. An left is Sr. M. Emmanuel, O. S. for one half day in German and On September I *>, 1890, this picture was snapped in front of the old frame Catholic school building. From left to right the pupils are: BACK ROW: Wil- liam Koehler. Adam Bischke, Andrew Mueller, Cornelius Dinges. Andrew Mueller. Martin Mueller, Michel Lauer. Father Bernard Schuette, Nell Lahey, Rose Reis. Mathilda Theiss, Julia Hild- mann. Anna Doran, Mary Haub. MIDDLE ROW: Jim Lahey. George Dinges, Joe Schmaul, Ge:trge Mueller, John Bulfer. John Lahey, Joe Kuehna, Joe Kellen. Marine Brucker, Lena Stephenitch, Emma Hildmann, Katie Brucker. Rose Doran, Emma Schmaul. FRONT ROW; Fred Dinges, Otto B& Malach, August Bulfer, Andrew Bulfer, Bill Oberhelman, Fred Burkardt. Peter Dinges, George Lauer, Irma Lauer, Tena Burkardt, Mamie Clausen. The Sister on the d the one on the right is Sr. M. Ursula. O. S. F. In those days school was conducted er half in English na Dinges, Gert Fluehr, Kitty Lahey F.. an the oth This happy little lad standing on the east side of his father's store is seven-year old Leroy Stephenitch. As the viewer looks south on Front Street he should take notice of the old Hotel and the Livery Stable on the right. Can you identify the building on the left and tell who its occupant was at that time? 79 S^ubletu of Ljedterda y TIME TABLE So. 8. FOR THE GOV f'.OULi ONLK Amboy Section ! ILLINOIS CENTRAL BAIL BOAD. Norths BETWEEN AMBOY AND WAl'KLLA. Mil i • t in \ noM »»oot. oouro wttb *.»! ****** ferrule jj 8TAT, °* rrov •■TAjmi* MOM MOtll ■>■.-■ Nmpi r .^» u .r:( ttj| 14 . !.*• . :: T«*-tr. ,110^—, IM-i II 14 -. 10 m 1 I »tm«M -- lUOM->V MIT . *ll»*sl(* MM Ml . r»M MM U«M»lt(lM ■tJWMtt W«pplta If iftt «. II t«u*«fta*k 1 • *»*•**!.". '.1" KWsui HW, •*« InU> (fc j I ■ ■■■ ■. At work on their specialties, Model-A and Model-T Fords, are Fritz Auchstet- ter, an unidentified man. and Jack Auchstetter, in their Central Garage Inside the Crawford Grocery Store (now the postoffice) were Pearl Biddle. behind counter; Hilda Bansau with doll; Irving Crawford. and Henry Bansau 80 Congratulations to Sublette, Illinois on your 100th Anniversary H. D. CONKEY & COMPANY And Affiliate Companies AAendota, Illinois SUBLETTE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE Sponsored by the Sublette Lions' Club General Chairman: Leonard J. Vaessen Secretary: W. Ralph Long Treasurer: Harry Bishop Souvenir Booklet: Rev. Anthony J. Becker and Donald J. Dinges Kids' Parade: William Florschuetz Big Parade: The Village Board Ball Games: Lester Politsch Amusements: Howard Sutton Publicity: Francis J. Morrissey and Byron Thier Pageant: HANNORAMA: Modern Matrons and Rev. Anthony J. Becker Food and Refreshments: Leonard Henkel and L. M. Dinges Bonnets: The Lee County Home Economics Extension Program Souvenirs: Jack Rapp and Archie Clark, Jr. Antiques: Leo Burkardt and Charles B. Hatch Grounds Police: The Sublette Volunteer Fire Department Testimonial Dinner: The Rev. Edward J. Lehman, the Rev. Alvin H. Smith, and Leonard J. Vaessen 81 Stable tt of ^Joda 4 1 x 9 I I depot North through the heart of the Village between the elevator ami the new As the men of the Sublette Volunteer Fire Department looked on an April morning in 1957. From left to right they are: Otto Kretschmer, Robert Full, Wil- liam Boyle. Bruce Bonnell, Arthur Shanyfelt. Gilbert Kellen. James Dinges. Raymond Lauer, Francis Morrissey. Raymond Dinges. Leo Burkardt, Lester Full. Leonard Vaessen. Chief. Leroy Lovering, Cletus Henkel. Walter Erbes. Howard Sutton. Don Dinges. Harold Bonnell. George Vaessen. Lester Dinges, Jack Rapp. Vernon Bonnell. ('lark Angier. and Byron Thier ■ t-ty An almost isolated Main Street caught the Photographers eye on a recent Sunday morn ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Wayside Press The Mendota Reporter The Amboy News The D/xa/i Evening Telegraph The Reverend Edward J. Lehman The Reverend Alvin H. Smith The Advertisers Mr. and Mrs. Donald J. Dinges Mr. and Mrs. Francis Morrissey Mr. Norman Fauble (Photography) Mr. Leonard J. Vaessen Mr. W. Ralph Long Mrs. Irvin Rapp Misses Grace, Mabel, and Cora Vincent Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Hatch Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mossholder Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Lovering Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bansau and Hilda Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Helbig Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Florschuetz Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Brucker Mrs. Catherine Burkardt Mr. and Mrs. Frank Oester Miss Lina Clarke Mr. Glen Purdy Miss Anna K. Erbes Mrs. Leo Gordon Mr. and Mrs. Cletus Henkel Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Koehler Mr. Charles Kuebel Mr. and Mrs. Amor Lauer Mrs. Max Letl and Boots Mrs. Mary Weeks Mrs. Velma Carr Mrs. Rueben Roehm Mrs. Oscar Dancey Mrs. Nettie Musser Mrs. Richards Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Dinges Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Stephenitch Mrs. L. M. Dinges Miss Ruth Easter Mrs. Geo. Henrich, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. John Dinges Mr. Fred Dinges Mr. and Mrs. Donald Stephenitch — and to each and every one else who may have in any way contributed material for this souvenir booklet. Fr. Anthony J. Becker 82 F. S. PETROLEUM PRODUCTS F. S. PLANT FOOD F. S. FEED , . - : . LEE COUNTY SERVICE COMPANY 19 57 «■ ■*■ — i .-■ . --■- ■ ,.."■* £_i_i_ — ..... .1 - 1 . The present Farmers State Bank of Sublette was or- ganized Dec. 31, 1920, through the purchase of the as- sets of the Exchange Bank of Sublette, thereby hav- ing furnished a banking service for this community since Jan. 1, 1900. Four of the seven original directors are living and active, two of them still stockholders. Of seventeen original stockholders who owned 165 shares of stock, and who are living today, thirteen of them still own 149 shares. Our own first expansion came in 1933 when bullet proof glass was installed in front of the tellers' win- dows. Again in 1941 a basement was excavated and a storage vault completed therein and on the first floor a new fireproof vault installed. In 1947 addi- tional rooms were built on, making room for a pri- vate office and consultation room. New types of ma- chines have been added to modernize our operations and reduce hand labor. Surplus, undivided profits and reserves accounts have been increased mate- rially. Our directors have been associated with community progress for many years and have provided a con- servatively operated bank capable of caring for the needs of the surrounding territory. The bank has always been active in community ac- tivities, helping to finance business expansions and provide funds to help make the Sublette territory a prosperous farming community. We invite you to use our complete banking facilities. FARMERS STATE BANK - SUBLETTE, ILLINOIS Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 977 336SU16 C001 SUBLETTE, ILLINOIS, OUR BIT OF US A S 2 025389963