Issue 42

Hello everyone, I just got word that Tom Gallagher has passed away. Tom had contributed some interesting memories for us all to read and share with one another. We will miss hearing from him and our sympathy goes out to his family. Another reader of Olney Memories recently passed away whom many of you knew. Don "Pete" Peterson played a big part in locating people and their addresses who were interested in the Olney Memories. Pete too will be missed and we extend our sympathy to his family also. On a more personal note I would like to mention my own parents, Chris and Venus Weesner. They were born and raised near Olney and spent most of their married life living in Olney. In 2000 we brought them to Texas where they would be near us. On August 19 my mom and dad celebrated a very unusual wedding anniversary.......75 years of marriage. Exactly 10 days after this big celebration, my dad passed away. He was 98 years of age. Then exactly three weeks later to the day, my mother who was 96 years old, also died. They enjoyed reading the Olney Memories and all the things that all of you have contributed, and up until the last year or so, they remembered the things that happened quite well. Please remember to drop me a note with any address changes you might have. Does anyone know the current address of Ruth Winkler Reckling from the class of 1959? Ann Weesner King pianoann97@aol.com Class of 1960 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Olney Memories # 42 Robin (Bellinger) Long ROBINMOMMY9@MSN.COM I just finished reading the entry by Sheryl McShane Greene. I too live outside of Phoenix. I thought I was the only person in the world that missed Olney for those exact reasons. The Olney I remember is where I want to raise my children. I don't like to lock my doors at night. My oldest daughter is 13 and Ewwww's at the thought of chowder (if she only knew how good it was!!). The school here are horrible. My husband and I are trying to find a way to moved back "home". Olney is the only home I have ever known. I miss it to and don't feel so alone in the longing for it. Thank you! Robin (Bellinger) Long Class of 1990 Kay (McCarter) Harbaugh ho643@wabash.net I am looking for information on the weight scales that used to be in the 100 block of West Chestnut here in Olney. They were right beside Bower Park. I would like to know when they were taken out. Doll's bought the scales but the boys don't remember when their father bought them. The weight master's booth is still sitting at Doll's. My e-mail is ho643@wabash.net. Thanks, Kay McCarter Harbaugh Class of 1961 Gloria Dean masdean@aol.com Ann as usual I loved the latest Olney Memories (#41) and upon just beginning to look at them I saw an article that really excited me. Jim Dale had an article in there about "Richland County Men that died in WWII" and in that article he had mentioned my uncle Louis Clay Mahan. I faintly remember my uncle as he was leaving for the Philippines before the start of the war. I am the oldest living member of the next generation and therefore the others didn't even get to see him before he left for the war. He was taken a POW almost immediately listed as MIA for a time and then declared a POW. Later in the war he along with hundreds of other prisoners were being moved to another place for more slave labor duties. The ship was torpedoed by the Allies not knowing that there were American's on the ship. So once again my uncle was listed as MIA and l later declared dead. That is all I knew about my uncle and was so happy to read about the book that Jim Dale and his wife had put together. I immediately contacted Jim and he very willingly mailed me copies of the book that are about my Uncle. In the article and letter he sent he told of places we can check to find out different things about my uncle. Also I had no idea and I know that my siblings and cousin knew there was a cemetery where he was honored. I am so thankful for not only the Olney Memories but also for Jim and all the wonderful historical articles he submits. Thanks Ann and Jim and all the others that send in articles. Gloria Dean ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kay (McCarter) Harbaugh ho643@wabash.net If anyone can tell me where I can get some old pictures of Olney I would really appreciate it. Our kids don't know many of the sites here and many of the sites are now gone. Kay Harbaugh Class of 1961 -------------------------------------------------- Jim Dale jdale@uark.edu

Illinois Central Train Ride-Many people may not remember or know that
at one time there was passenger train service on the Illinois Central
Railroad that went north and south through Olney. My first train ride
was when I was about 6 years old, in 1928, and it was on this Illinois
Central Railroad from Olney to Calhoun. The train had a steam locomotive
and as I recall just had one old-fashioned coach passenger car. I was
too young to notice but there were probably a couple of other cars on
the train which held freight, mail, etc., because in those days any
shipment of merchandise that was large or heavy went by train since
there was no trucking system as we know it today. I understand that the
old IC railway depot does not exist today, but at one time it was
located a couple of blocks north of Main Street and about a block west
of N. Walnut Street.
Regarding the passenger service, Glenn Swinson, who lived at Dundas,
believes that every day there were two passenger trains that went both
north and south through Dundas and Olney. Although the Illinois Central
had numerous lines and branches, Glenn recalls that the local passenger
train ran between Mattoon, IL, and Evansville, IN. John Summers noticed
the following statement in the 1991 sesquicentennial history book about
Olney. On page 76 it says: "Students from Ingraham, Dundas, Claremont,
and other towns came to O.T.H.S. and then went back home on the
weekends. Students from Calhoun and Parkersburg came to Olney every
morning on the 8:45 train and went home every evening on the 4:25."
Back to my trip, my caretaker for the approximately 8-mile trip to
Calhoun was our hired girl at the time, and she was taking me home with
her so she could spend the weekend with her parents who lived on a farm
near Calhoun. It was quite an adventure for me, getting to take a
16-mile round-trip train ride, and also getting to spend the weekend on
a farm in the country. I do not remember, but I imagine that her dad
picked us up at the station with a horse and wagon, or a buggy, since
most farmers in those days did not have a need for an automobile. I
barely remember sleeping in an unheated attic-like room with thick
comforters for warmth. For breakfast we had a cereal-like mixture which
consisted of parched corn that had been run through a hand-cranked
coffee grinder. It was rather coarse and even after being drenched with
milk and sugar and allowed to soak a while, it was still pretty hard to
chew. Except for its hardness it was actually pretty good.
Interestingly, during the Revolutionary War many of our soldiers,
especially those from the Carolinas, carried bags of parched corn with
them as their sole source of food on long and forced marches, thus it
was a proven source of sustenance.
During the weekend I remember that we took a horse-drawn dry land
sled and brought in one or two shocks of corn from the field into the
barnyard to feed the livestock. When the teepee-like shocks were pushed
over on to the sled there were numerous mice that scurried about because
they had lost their homes. We tried to eliminate the mice with big clubs
because they ate and destroyed many ears of corn that were needed for
the livestock. Needless to say, my first ride on a train and weekend in
the country was a memorable occasion.

Jim Dale Class of 1940 Ann Weesner King Pianoann97@aol.com I found the following article when I was going through some things of my mother and dad. I thought it was fitting for Olney Memories. There was no name printed in association with this story. A Short History of Olney Olney, the county seat of Richland county, was founded in 1841. The name Olney was not a local name. It was given the name Olney by Judge Aaron Shaw, one of the pioneer settlers of Olney who was a good friend of a banker in Lawrenceville name Nathan Olney. The first building used as a courthouse was the home of Benjamin Bogard, who lived in the extreme east part of Olney near Bogard's Run. The newly organized county board paid Bogard $1 per month rent for the use of one of his rooms for the county officials. He was also to furnish wood for heating the room. The first courthouse was erected in 1842, three blocks north of the present courthouse. It not only served as the first court house but was the first schoolhouse and also the first church in Olney. T.W. Lilley gave the land to the county for the courthouse for building purposes. The first train of the B&O ran through Olney on July 4, 1855. The Olney Municipal Band has been in continuous operation since Marh 1, 1870. It was first composed of early musicians who had played in the Civil War. This band is supported by municipal taxation and holds concerts each summer at the City Park. The Illinois State Fair was held in Olney two seasons during the years 1887 and 1888. At that time the state fair was awarded to cities who made the strongest bids and gave the most prominence. The fair brought an estimated 15,000 people to Olney. The present fair ground was first used as a fair ground in 1979 by the county and state fair. The Olney Municipal Band (now known as the Cummins Municipal Band) played during those fair seasons. Olney has been the scene of a number of newspapers. At one time there were six newspapers in Olney being published at the same time. The Olney Times had the longest history. During its existence from 1856 until 1952, it changed its political makeup four times. It was a Free Soil, Whig, Republican and later a Democratic paper. In 1864, a mob of Union soldiers invaded the Olney Times shop because of statements made by the editor in favor of the southern states during the Civil War. The Olney Sanitarium, one of the most famous medical institutions for many miles around, was located in Olney. In 1898, Dr. George T. Weber, who had been practicing in Ingraham, came to Olney and bought the old Commercial Hotel on East Main Street. He started a hospital there. Later, he was joined by Dr. A.L. Ziliak and then by Dr. Frank Weber, his brother, who had been practicing in Clay City. Later two other brothers, Dr. Neil Weber and Dr. James A. Weber, joined him. They were joined by two sisters who were registered nurses. The Olney Sanitarium, no longer in operation, was the forerunner of the Weber Medical Clinic, one of the oldest in the nation. One of Olney's famous associations is that of the white squirrel. In 1902, Ezra Stroup was out hunting on his father's farm four miles southeast of Olney. He shot into a bundle in a tree and the bundle fell to the ground with two albino squirrels. Elated with his find, he brought the squirrels to Olney and placed them in a saloon window owned by Jasper Banks, Thomas Tippit Jr. and his brother Bert. Tippit released the squirrels in the Tippit woods in the northeast part of Olney. A fox squirrel killed the male white squirrel and Tippit killed the fox squirrel just before in lunged on the female albino. From this remaining white female squirrel have come all succeeding generations of white squirrels in Olney. They are protected by city ordinance and state law. A more pampered animal cannot be found anywhere. Ann Weesner King Class of 1960 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------========================================================== ==========================================================