I'm certain if economic times were better many people would have stayed in Olney. We left when the oilfields were closing down and the shift to Arab oil was contemporary in the mid 80's. Go figure --Shawneetown, IL was one of the largest cities in Illinois at one time. Madison, IN was the largest city in Indiana at one time. South Fairmount was the gateway to the West from Cincinnati, OH.
To recapture some of the past, Olney needs four lane highway from Vincennes to St Louis
The transportation systems built Olney, especially Oil, Gas, Railroad and US 50. Farming was an independent operation that was self supporting livelihoods, until the export of livestock and grains to worldwide markets. There's still people in Olney who never shop at Walmart or IGA if only to buy canning goods or essentials for basic living.
Did you know that one of the Worlds largest railroad projects was from Vincennes to St Louis when they in one day moved one rail over from the wide old gauge to current standard gauge. Men were lined up along the tracks and did this manually It’s an interesting story I had found a couple of years ago.
I think it was in the Sumner Press/Publisher's Guest column. Now when you see the B & O railroad in another light now when you cross the tracks.
On Paul Harvey the rest of the story I heard that the width of all railroads is the same width of the wheels/tracking of the Roman chariots. Seems some things are hand me downs from ancient origins.
Whenever you visit Monicals I have placed two pictures there for Renee, the manager, for her collection. One is Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and another is a record that was probably Olney's resident doctor's WWII tribute to the naval ship USS Olney. Dr.Will Moore had a popular song that sold several copies and I had this one to be in working condition but told the Monical's manger that someday someone will want to hear and place this in a Richland County historical museum.
Curtis Stoltz
Class of ‘73
In OM#50, you ask about the name of the poultry company before it was Kralis. The GW Blackburn Poultry Company, based in Fairfield, IL, owned it before selling it to Kralis. George Washington Blackburn is my great grandfather. GW and his son, Lawrence, operated the business. GW's son (with his second wife), Clarence Blackburn, is my grandfather, and my father is Richard Blackburn. My father still lives in Olney.
I enjoy reading OM and glad to contribute in a small way. Thanks
Dale Blackburn
Class of 1976
Recently a reader of Olney Memories, Marvin Doolin, wrote and asked me if I would like to have a small book about the History of Olney written by Bert Michels. Of course I said I would love to read it, so Marvin sent it to me. The book was so interesting and so good that I could hardly wait to turn the next page. Rather than send it as an attachment which might be a problem on some computers, I will type it out and include it in the next few Olney Memories, a few pages at a time.
I was not sure when it was written, but I believed it was probably in the early 1950’s. And later it was brought to my attention it probably was written around 1955. Quotes from the book:
"J.R. Murvin passed away on March of this year after reaching his 100th birthday on December 11, 1955." My assumption was that Mr. Murvin had not yet reached his 101st birthday at the time of the writing.
The book was printed by the Taylor Print Shop in Olney.
I thank Marvin for thinking of the Olney Memories and sharing the book so we all may enjoy it.
Ann Weesner King
Class of 1960
HISTORY OF OLNEY
Editors Foreword
We are reprinting the following history of Olney, which was written a few months ago by Bert Michels, local historian and former printer, newspaper man and school teacher, who was requested to write a brief history for the radio script used by the recent appearance of the Don McNeil Breakfast Club program in Olney. This history mentions only many of the highlights of events of Olney and is not complete in every detail. A more extended and detailed history of Olney for over 115 years would take up several volumes.
Because of the requests of several persons to have this history printed, the publishers are having copies made and presented to the Olney Chamber of Commerce and for the citizens of Olney, who may wish a copy.
Mr. Michels has lived in Olney for over 40 years and is a native of Noble. He has witnessed many of the events mentioned as well as knowing many of the pioneer settlers of the county and by talking to many of them and their descendants.
Mr. Michels was a history major in Olney high school and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale many years ago and has always been interested in local history. He also taught in former years in the schools at Parkersburg and Olney. For the past 22 years he has been County Welfare Director, but still continues his interest in local history and in try to answer inquiries of a local historical nature.
The Publishers
Chapter 1
Olney, county seat of Richland County, is a unique town from several standpoints. Where Olney is now located, prior to the time Richland County became a county, there was no town. The first semblance of a town near Olney was Waterton, located one mile west on Fox Creek. It was made up in to village lots about 1835. The town, Waterton, could not grow for the reason that it was located on the west bank of Fox Creek and was too swampy. Early pioneers took boats loaded with pork, furs, and other commodities from Waterton down Fox Creek by the way of horses on the banks. Trips were made down the Little and Big Wabash, the Ohio River and the Mississippi to New Orleans.
Where the city of Olney now lies, the county seat was authorized by vote of the people living in what is now Richland County. Richland County was formed from parts of Lawrence and Clay counties and Fox Creek, west of Olney, was the county line between those two counties. When the state legislature gave it’s consent for Richland County to be formed from these two counties, subject to the favorable vote of the people, the name of Olney was not given after any local name but was given the name of Olney by Judge Aaron Shaw, one of the pioneer settlers of Olney who was a good friend to a banker of Lawrenceville named “Nathan Olney.” Judge Shaw’s old home is located at 607 South Elliott Street in Olney. The City of Olney was established on August 4, 1841 as the county seat and won out by only three votes over two other places.
The first building used as a court house 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 Mr. Bogard $1.00 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 (quite a contrast to rentals of today.)
The first court house was erected in 1842, three blocks north of the present court house. It not only served as the first court house but was the first school house and also the first church in Olney. The Methodist church was organized in September, 1841 and is the oldest church in Olney. The first settler was Elijah Nelson, who settled in 1820 from Virginia on a farm two miles west of Olney. He was the grandfather of Marion Nelson who lives in Olney. T.W. Lilley gave the land to the county for the court house without charge. He also gave 13 lots to the City of Olney on the north side of the court house free, for building purposes. The first two merchants in Olney were John H. Gunn and Henry Spring. Henry Spring came to Olney in 1842 and organized a store where he dealt in wool, pork, seed and general merchandise. He helped organize the First National Bank in 1866. He died in 1890 after many years residence. He came to Olney from Vermont and lived on North Boone Street where his home is still in existence. The northeast part of Olney as called “Little Vermont” because families like the Springs, the Gunns, the Powers and Morehouses’s came to Olney from Vermont. The Spring home, now owned by Dr. Paul C. Weber of Olney is one of the oldest houses in Olney.
More next time…………………
Ann Weesner King
Class of 1960
It's possible one of the readers would remember when the Breakfast Club was
in Olney. That would be an even better clue of when this book by Bert Michels was actually written.
Marvin Doolin
Class of ‘62
I was happy to see the reply from Carol Vaughn about her father. I thought the remarks odd and had never heard that before. Perhaps Curtis has Charles Vaughn mixed up with another person. One thing I will agree on though is that he was the best State's Attorney Richland County ever had. Besides that, he was also a pretty good country lawyer!
Also, I take exception to Curtis's comments about Rock Hudson being born in Olney. He was born in Winnetka, Il, near Chicago. His birth name was Leroy Harold Scherer Jr and his stepfather adopted him and he grew up as Roy Fitzgerald. I cannot recall and do not want to waste space on it, but he was probably related to the Scherer Family in Richland County. I do seem to remember an article in the Daily Mail that he visited Olney.
I also remember when Clint Walker (Cheyenne) visited Olney for some parade or function. My brother Bob always made light of it. There was this big burly guy standing on the street corner near the Arcadia all alone, and not a damn sole was paying any attention to him.
Bud Varner
Class of '66
Just a little information regarding the "white squirrel" stories that were written in some of the early OM issues (around #14-15-16)... as I've been told; my father wanted to present the White House with a pair of Olney White Squirrels for the White House lawn. President Eisenhower was in the White House at the time when my father was elected to Congress. Eisenhower was a golfer and had a golf course of some type or putting greens on the White House lawn. My father had offered the squirrels but the White House had turned down the offer because they feared the squirrels would dig up and destroy the golf course/putting greens that President Eisenhower had on the grounds at the White House. At approximately the same time, the request was made to the City of Olney for a pair of the squirrels, but the City decided that the squirrels could not be trapped and donated and thus denied my father's request for a pair of the squirrels. Shortly after that, an Illinois State Legislator introduced a bill protecting the squirrels from being trapped, confined, harmed in any way, etc. Of course I wish dad was here to tell me the complete story but I got this information from my uncle, Don Watson, who was dad's administrative assistant the 20 years dad was in office. And yes, he was re-elected, nine times.
I got to thinking about the county fairs back in the 60's and 70's and they were much different than today's fairs. I would assume that fairs were invented to bring the country folks together with their animals, produce, pies, canned goods, crafts and much more. Much of that still exists today with programs like 4-H; and I always look forward to getting my lemon shake up from the 4-H stand at the fair. But the "fair" part of it was much different.... there were side shows... the game booths that were really games of skill back then but many times rigged so you couldn't win (I remember dad telling stories of how they'd have to go out to the fair when he was deputy sheriff or sheriff and shut down some booth for ripping people off).....the bearded lady, the tattoo man, the guy with alligator skin, Mr. Voltage that could withstand being hooked up to electrical current, fortune tellers, the lady that was locked up in a cage and she'd turn into a gorilla right before your eyes... and of course she would break out of the cage and everyone would run in panic from the tent back into the midway. There used to be the girlie shows which I remember being called a "hoot show" and the thrill of trying to get into that tent! I remember one year they even had siamese twins on display in a trailer that had a picture window and they would open a curtain so you could see them in their room. Of course, all politically incorrect these days or a violation of one's civil rights. There used to be a huge bingo tent and they would use corn kernels as bingo card markers. My older sister sat in mom's lap one night while she played bingo and stuffed the corn kernels up her nose. There were "real" crane machines and you could get really neat stuff out of them. No one could pass up the booth where you could throw your money at plates and glasses and cups and maybe even an ashtray. Lots of fun days to remember... thanks for starting this and thanks to all those that have added to the memories.
George "Buddy" Shipley Jr.
Class of 1971
I am having so much fun reading the past issues my brother sent. Am sorry I didn't know about this before!
I chuckled at the story entered by Harvey Zimmerle about the white squirrels at the White House~~and I'd love to clarify, and confirm that it was in 1958, and it was President Eisenhower. As my father, George Shipley was the youngest member to be elected to U.S. Congress at that time, Pres. Eisenhower invited him (among many others) to the White House. When introduced to him, Eisenhower stated "Olney, Il ... that's the home of the white squirel, correct?" Obviously his staff had done their homework. As the conversation went on, he told my dad he would like to have a pair of them to put on the White House lawn. My dad, eager to please, said "Sure, let me see what I can do." Coming back home that weekend, he made his calls and found out there was no way. There were no laws prohibiting it at that time, but it was under discussion to save and protect the little things even in 1958 and dad certainly wasn't going to buck the system. Returning to Washington the following Monday, he was wracking his brain how to tell the President of the United States....NO. He got busy in the office, the day turned into afternoon, and he was still trying to figure out how to respond. His secretary gave him a message saying..."you're off the hook, the President's office just called and the White House Groundskeepers nixed the whole idea. Till the day he died, this would still bring a laugh. He had some wonderful stories to tell.
Cindy (Shipley) Lewis
Class of ‘66
I finally finished reading all the back issues of the Olney Memories and have enjoyed them very much. I've shared them with family and friends and they have become interested in them too. I was surprised that no one has ever mentioned Green Light Road.
Green Light Road was north of town before East Fork Lake was ever thought of. For those that remember and I'm sure that many of you reading this will, you went north on N. East Street past where Weber Clinic is now, past Miller's Grove, down the hill through the bottoms and as you came back up the hill on the other side there was a road that turned east just at the top of the hill. Years later I realized that road also intersected another road that ran north and past the round barn towards what is now Borah Lake and by what I believe may have been referred to as Schmoker's Woods. When I was in Cub Scouts, Troop 311 (now 211) with Kenny Haines as the Scoutmaster we used to camp sometimes back there. His wife Marjorie was an English teacher if my memory is right, but can't remember if it was Jr. or Sr. High. Now, that road is the one that takes you back by the round barn and around to the boat ramps and park area at East Fork Lake. They were all gravel or dirt roads and it seems that Green Light Road got pretty muddy and bad when it was a heavy rain or in the winter.
The story I remember and I'm sure there were many versions, was that a young couple was out there parking and they heard a noise outside the car door. They panicked, the car wouldn't start, it finally did and when they got back to town they found a hand hook hanging on the car door handle that had been pulled from the old scary guy that lived out there. I think there was another version about someone hanging above the car or something like that... any one remember those stories? Thanks to all of those that have brought back some great memories.
George "Buddy" Shipley Jr.
Class of 1971
I have been away from Olney for many years and noticed Olney named their high school gym after Ron Herrin. I would like to know the details about his passing.
Thanks,
Pat Totten
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